Pokemon Eternal Darkness
by colbyjackchz
Summary: After Colby's parents tragically die in a Poffin Factory explosion, she tries to find a new future for herself by traveling to the Aurora Region. Along the way she meets many interesting characters, as well as a rare hybrid pokemon named Nicksy.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Aunt Poppy,

I'm sorry…I really am. I just wanted to let you know that I am safe and on a ship to a new land. I hope everything goes well with you…I promise to return… some day.

Colby

Colby signed her name in her messy writing and sealed the letter firmly. The wind whipped at her hair as she glanced over the vast blue-green sea. She often wondered if this really was the best choice to make…Running away from Aunt Poppy had been a rather difficult decision but she was holding her back. Ever since Mom and Dad died from the explosion of the Poffin Factory, nothing was the same. She was declared Colby's new legal guardian since she was the closet relative that was around. Aunt Poppy had always been nice to her when she came for visits, but after the accident she had lost it.

Aunt Poppy became hysterical and Colby had to take care of her since she refused to go to a care facility. It wasn't exactly what Colby wanted to do in her life…so she made the difficult choice to leave. Grabbing what was left of her inheritance from her parents, she boarded the Nighthawk. It was a beautiful ship bound for the rolling plains, beautiful mountains, and teeming forests of the Aurora Region. Colby was leaving the Hecate Region, and hopefully her old life, behind.

The loss of her parents had left her cold and depressed. At first, she wasn't really affected by it…but now the shock was wearing off and the real sadness was starting to sink in.

Colby sighed and let the salt spray pelt her face as she doodled a Zorua in her PokePages Journal. The Hecate Region had once been a great Region. It was once known as The Golden Region and was recognized for its advances in technology, Pokeball development, and the learning program, Pokémon Trainer Academy (PTA). It was her parent's plan for her to attend the PTA and become a training assistant for the Elite. The Elite were the best of the best. They are the superiors of the PTA and help train some of the greats. It was her dream, always had been. That plan had essentially fallen through when her parents were killed. After that, it seemed as if the Hecate Region was falling apart. The Region lost its good status for regions that were unknown to the common folks. The press had theories, but no one really knew what happened. From then on, it seemed as if the situation was hopeless as her life, and Colby just plain gave up on the Hecate Region and what her life could have been.

"Whatcha drawing?" A voice said from beside her.

Colby looked up, startled, and saw a guy staring at her. His hair was a light green with clashing eyes of bright blue. He was wearing a black PokeFan shirt with a Bulbasaur on it and dark blue jeans. White ear buds hung from the collar of his shirt and swung over his shoulder was a grey knapsack covered in buttons of every shape and size. Colby looked back down at her drawing and tried to block the stranger out. People were just a nuisance.

"What's wrong?" The kid said, trying to get her attention.

Colby bit back irritation kept a blank look on her face. Maybe…if she answered he would go away.

"Nothing is wrong. What do you want?" She retorted sharply.

The guy flinched at the bitterness of her words and looked at his feet. "Sorry…are you having a bad day?" He said in a flat voice.

Colby slammed her PokePages Journal shut and shoved the letter in her pocket. Grabbing her knapsack, she stood up. Her black cloak pooled around her and her blonde hair (with black streaks) whipped around her in a veil and her blazing blue eyes were locked with his.

"You don't know anything about a bad day," She hissed.

The guy's face hardened, and he had seemed to lose all of his friendliness. But at the same time, he seemed scared of her.

"Look…I'm not trying to-" He started, but was interrupted by Colby.

"I don't care what you're trying to do. Leave me alone, I didn't ask for your company," She growled, stomping off towards the bow of the ship and not looking back.

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><p><strong>****THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT**** <strong>** My friend is doing some fan art for each chapter in this fan fiction. So! For all you fans that want to see the characters in a drawing, she will be providing this. As soon as the link comes in, I will post it for each chapter in an authors note at the end of the chapter. Keep watch for the link, and let's give the REAL Amanda (who is an amazing artist I may add) a round of applause! *****Applause*******

**Enjoy the story guys :D**

***** Speaking of fan art… The picture for chapter one is done! Let's give a round of applause to the real Amanda! **

**Search on Sumopaint…**

**Website: SumoPaint .com**

**Artist: Mayamayagirl**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Colby stayed perched by the bow of the boat the rest of the evening and only went back to her cabin when the sun was dipping low into the horizon. Before the accident, she would have loved to make friends. She liked the company of people and someone to talk to. But since the depression of not having her parents and her whole future falling apart had set in, people were the last things she wanted to be around.

She crept forward with her knapsack on her back and unlocked the door to her cabin. It was a simple little living space, nice and cozy. It was painted a sea blue and had little Magikarp's on the bordering. In the corner was a twin bed and to the right of that a nightstand with a lamp. The bathroom was attached to the room and was by the back left corner. Other than that, the room was fairly empty. Normal travelers brought furniture with them, but not Colby. The only things she had to her name was her knapsack, along with the various items in there and some clothing. She dropped the knapsack on the floor with a thud and hung up the cloak on a rack. Colby fell into a heap onto the twin bed and willed sleep to take her away…

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><p><em>Lightning flashed through the dark sky and thunder crashed like an angry wave washing onto a dock. His yellow eyes glinted dangerously and matched the threatening flashes, as if they were one. He was hidden in a mask of shadows…a darkness so deep that even the brightest light wouldn't be able to pierce the shroud. His challenger faced the malice with blazing green eyes and the strength of a thousand souls. Something snapped and an illumination of brilliant gold light raced toward the darkness. The two forces met and a blast echoed through the valley, shaking the earth. All fell silent as death as smoke cleared. They continued to stare each other down, daring one another to fall. A scream echoed off the walls of the valley, rocks tumbled, and white light burst everywhere...<em>

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><p>Colby woke up screaming and shot up off of the small bed in one fluid motion. Her eyes flew open and she saw the guy from the boat deck standing in the doorway with his mouth open and his eyes wide. She for a moment stood there and processed what had just happened…what could that dream have meant?<p>

"Um…uh…" The guy stuttered.

That yanked her back into reality. What was this kid doing in her cabin? Just as she was about to tell him off, he raised his hands in a stop motion.

"Woah…before you explode on me…I was just walking down the corridor out to the deck when I heard screaming. I came to check it out to make sure that everyone was ok. I'm not going to bother you…" He responded politely, with a look of mild fear in his eyes.

Colby put up her human barrier, as she liked to call it and processed it all. Maybe…maybe this one person wouldn't be so bad to have as just one friend…That didn't mean she had to be super nice to him…but she had been getting a bit lonely.

"Name?" She asked simply with a bit of a snap behind it.

The guy looked a bit confused, "Oh, I'm Ellis…"

Colby nodded and crossed her arms, "I'm not a friendly person and I don't like people. I'm giving you a chance here Ellis because you seem desperate."

Ellis looked a bit happy for a friend and scared at the same time. It was a quite interesting combination.

"Ok…I will leave you to yourself now," He said, clearly ready to escape her death look.

She gave him a succinct nod and he scrammed, shutting the door firmly behind him.

Colby pulled on her cloak and checked the time on her watch. It was a little before ten, which was early for her. Grabbing her knapsack, she headed for the boat deck where she would spend her day as always. It was the last day of her sea journey and in the late afternoon they would be arriving in the Aurora Region. She simply couldn't wait.

Surprisingly, this was the first real excitement or joy she had felt since her parents had died, though it was small. The ocean was a brilliant blue today and the seas were calm, perfect. Colby found her spot by the front of the bow and sat down. She pulled out her PokePages Journal and started to write about that mysterious dream that she had. It was quite an interesting one...almost bringing a sense of déjàvo with it. Her pen scribbled over the page as she filled up one and started on another. A shadow of a person fell across the paper and she jerked around to see Ellis standing there again.

"Do you always have to do that?" She snapped, quite irritated at him interrupting her personal time.

"Sorry…why are you always in such a bad mood? I try to stay positive," Ellis said, sitting on the crate opposite her.

"That is of my personal affairs, and is none of _your_ concern," she snapped. Ellis looked out over the water.

"Your going to the Aurora Region to I'm guessing?" He asked, changing the subject.

She looked up from her Journal, "Yeah, anything to get away from Hecate," she grumbled.

"Why do you hate Hecate so much?" Ellis asked, his green eyes flickering with question.

Colby looked back to her Journal and started to doodle another Zorua on the edge of the paper.

"Just because I do," She retorted stiffly.

"There has to be a reason," Ellis prompted with the usual peppy tone in his voice.

"How can you be like that all the time?" She hissed.

Ellis looked startled, "Be like what…?"

"All happy and peppy all the time. The day I'm happy is the day that I like Hecate, never."

Ellis just smiled, "I think you need to quit being so down in the dumps. You could at least just try and be sort of happy."

"Would you be happy and peppy if you were on your own with both of your parents dead? And the only thing you had left to go 'home' to in Hecate was your half mad Aunt? Don't tell me about being happy and peppy," She hissed.

Ellis looked like someone had slapped him and sorrow clouded his eyes.

"I-I'm sorry…I didn't know…" He said sorrowfully.

Colby looked back at her Journal and tried to concentrate on her little drawing again. "What's done is done. There is nothing left for me in Hecate."

"Well…I'm sorry…I…"

"Don't worry about it."

Ellis stood up quickly, "I'll be right back...just wait here!"

Colby muttered her okays and went back to drawing another Zorua. After about five minutes, she heard the sound of boots on the deck and Ellis came running back carrying a bag. He dug around in it and produced a Poke Ball from one of the front pockets. The Poke Ball made a satisfying whistle sound through the air as it popped open and a Phanpy appeared.

"C'mon Eddie, cheer up…uh…you never mentioned your name…" Ellis said.

Colby shut her PokePages Journal and stuffed it in her knapsack.

"I'm Colby," She grumbled as the Phanpy trotted toward her. It made a cute little noise as Ellis petted it.

"You can pet Eddie if you want…he likes to cheer up people," Ellis smiled.

Colby petted the Phanpy tentatively at first so that it would get comfortable with her. She was always particularly a good Pokémon person. It was almost a connection between her and them. All Pokémon were her friends, and they were a being that you knew that you could trust, even in the darkest of times.

The Phanpy seemed to soothe her aching heart and for a moment…she almost felt a peace. Pokémon always seemed to make everything better. They were a way to escape the cruelness of the world.

"See! He likes you!" Ellis said enthusiastically.

"Is he yours?" Colby asked.

That was probably the kindest thing she had said to Ellis since they had met. He surely seemed surprised that her words didn't have a snap to them this time.

"No…I wish, because he is the best little companion a lone traveler could ask for. His master is actually my sister Rosie."

Colby pondered the thought for a moment. What would it be like to have a sibling? She had grown up as an only child…

"What is Rosie like?"

"She is the sweetest sister a guy could ask for. Her hair is flaming red and her cheeks are always rosy with happiness. That is where she got her name, according to mom and dad. Eddie here was very sick a few days ago…He was on the brink of death and no medicine was available in Aurora at the moment. So…I set out on this journey to Hecate and back so that I could save little Eddie," Ellis explained, looking towards the horizon while petting Eddie.

"Wow…Eddie must be really special to her…I wish that I still had my parents…and a sibling would be nice to," Colby sighed, a melancholy feeling beginning to set in as she thought about it.

"'I'm sure Rosie would love to meet you…you seem to share that same connection with Pokémon as she does," Ellis said slowly.

He was probably wondering what kind of reaction this would get from her. Colby wasn't sure how to react…because no one had been this kind to her in a while. But then again, nor had she been to them. She was almost as surprised as Ellis at her reaction.

"I would love to meet Rosie…It's not like I have anywhere to go after I get off this boat."

Ellis looked both shocked, and delighted. His geeky smile once again returned and plastered itself to his face.

"Sounds like a plan! Colby…look!" Ellis exclaimed, pointing at the horizon.

Colby looked up from her Journal and saw the most beautiful sight that had pass through her gaze since she could remember. In the distance, the fingers of land exploded into view. Vast expanses of green seemed to go on forever in every direction that she looked. This was what she had been waiting for. A new start, a new beginning, a new life.

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><p><strong>AN: Review and let me know what you think :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Travelers, the Nighthawk will be docking for Portsburg in a matter of minutes," A voice boomed over the intercom.

Colby and Ellis went there separate ways to get their stuff. This was the moment Colby had been waiting for from the start of this three-week journey. The moment that she would arrive in the bustling dock city, Portsburg. Truthfully, she hadn't planned anything past getting off the ship. As she stood there with her knapsack, waiting for Ellis, two things, panic and loneliness struck her… Where was she going to go? What was she going to do? At the time of the run away…it seemed like a good idea. Or the leaving Hecate part did. Her mind wandered back to little Eddie and how she longed to have a Pokémon of her own to care for. The depressed part of her mind was screaming at how much of a sap she was being. But it didn't hurt to dream…did it?

"Hey," Ellis said from beside her.

Colby was startled, not hearing him come up. His messed up green hair was sticking out in all directions and his bottomless blue eyes gleamed with excitement. Over his shoulder, he was carrying his old grey knapsack with all the buttons on it.

"Ready to step foot off this boat and into Aurora? They are docking and letting people off now," Ellis announced happily.

Colby, for the first time in what seemed like forever, smiled the slightest bit. She was ready; ready to be brave, and ready to face whatever this region threw at her.

"Lets go," She said succinctly, but merrily.

Ellis led the way, past the eager passengers to the docking area. The ship let out a whistle that signaled that they had docked successfully. But that sound was more than just a docking signal to Colby. It was more of a symbol of her new life, like flipping a switch from old to new, from bad to good.

They navigated around all of the people and came to the check out area. As they came to the bridge, that leads them across to the dock, someone handed Colby a paper sheet of some sort.

"Everyone have one? Maps! Maps here!" The guy hollered, passing out maps to everyone.

"That's nice of them to give out maps for Aurora…these cost a good buck in the Poke Marts," Ellis explained, looking at his map.

Colby studied the map furiously, while walking and trying not to run onto Ellis. The big red dots were labeled as cities and the smaller green dots, towns or villages.

"Wow…look at the shape…"Colby said aloud, awed by Aurora's interesting shape.

They finally got out of the crowd and crossed the bridge to the road. Colby's foot hit hard ground and she breathed a sigh of relief. She had made it. Ellis fell in step beside her as they walked around the huge city that was called…Portsburg, according to her new map.

"Oh yeah, the shape," Ellis laughed. "Looks kind of like a Staru on steroids doesn't it? Except this interesting shape has a story that goes along with it…more like, a legend actually."

Colby's interest sparked…a legend with Aurora? No one had ever told her anything about something like that. Boy, this place was getting better and better. She had always been interested in fairy tales, the impossible, and legends.

"A legend?" She echoed quizzically.

Ellis smiled his signature peppy smile, "Oh, are you interested in hearing about it?"

Colby rolled her eyes, "If you ever tell me, you carrot."

Ellis looked puzzled by that obviously newly earned nickname, "Um…Carrot?"

"Yeah…carrots have green tops don't they?" Colby retorted with a smile.

"Ah, clever aren't you? But did you notice that I happen to be wearing no orange! If you want to hear the legend of Aurora you better start being a bit nicer to me," Ellis fired back with a returning smile of silliness.

Colby rolled her eyes again, "Oh, just tell the story."

"Before I get started, there is a little café here on the right. You hungry?" Ellis asked, pointing toward the end of the cobblestone street.

On the corner stood a little brick building, obviously standing out from the other shiny buildings. It had a homey look about it and had an original sign out front that said CAFÉ in curly letters. Just as she was about to say that she was fine, Colby's stomach grumbled towards the other answer.

Ellis laughed, "I'll take that as a yes."

They hopped up onto the curb and entered the small café. Inside was just how Colby's mind had pictured it. Along the walls, pictures of beautiful scenery from Aurora lit up the room. The tables were simple square tables and chairs, all wooden. Booth's lined the walls along with some more wall decorations of all sorts and shapes. Ellis led them over to one of the open booths and Colby sat opposite him, sinking into the seat.

"Ok…so about that legend?" Colby prompted, eager to hear.

Ellis rolled his eyes, "Your very impatient! Shouldn't we at least get our food first?"

Colby sighed and grabbed a menu to study. The menu was fairly generic and had all the normal things. Hamburger and fries, onion rings, chicken fried steak, hotdog, steak, and a whole bunch of other things. Colby scanned over the items quickly and decided to go old school, chicken fingers with fries. A perky looking waitress with light auburn hair took their orders quickly, and then ran off again almost as quickly as she had come.

"We have ordered Ellis, you can spit it out now," Colby practically begged.

"Oh all right, alright, don't have a hernia," Ellis stopped and grabbed his map out of his grey knapsack.

He pointed to the middle shape that looked a bit like a Staru. Around the big island, five hook like, claw islands surrounded the middle one. Each of the claws was connected to the middle one by two bridges on each side of the claw.

"Now, after looking at the map a bit, what do those claws look like to you?" Ellis asked.

Colby studied the claws curiously…it almost looked like…but, how was that possible?

"You may call me crazy…but to me it looks like that at one time the claws were part of the center island…?" Colby suggested.

Ellis's eyes lit up, "Yes! Well, the legend of Aurora has lots to do with these claws. In the legend, there once was a time before humans had settled this land, in which all the claws were joined with the middle. But then something catastrophic happened that ripped them apart. Most say that there once was a great trainer in the sky named…well, no one knows his real name so we call him Scar. Scar was once one of the best trainers of the sky known to all of the regions, but as he slowly turned dark, he formed an enemy. Her name was Faye and she was the only one who stood up to Scar's malice. So, one day came when Scar's anger boiled over and he went after Faye. The battle was fierce, his red malice against her white purity. In the end, Scar was victorious, but in the process of the battle, Aurora was ripped apart. Thus, the five claw islands," Ellis finished, taking a drink of his water.

Colby was stunned by the legend. This great Region had a dark history. You sure couldn't find anything like that in Hecate! The waitress interrupted her thoughts by setting a steaming plate of chicken and fries in front of her. "And I'm assuming the hamburger goes to you?" The waitress asked, giving Ellis a secret little smile.

Ellis smiled back, but not flirtatiously like she was.

"Yes ma'am that would be mine thanks."

She giggled and sat the plate down, "Can I get you anything else?" She asked, ignoring Colby's presence and existence across from Ellis.

"No, I think we are fine," Ellis replied. She smiled another smile and nodded, "Let me know if there is anything at all you need, my name is Natasha."

Ellis gave her a thumbs up and she gave one final giggle before she disappeared again.

Colby sighed, "Are you immune to her?"

Ellis looked confused as he took a bite of his burger, "What do you mean?" Colby rolled her eyes, "She was flirting with you, you dinguss! Did you not even notice the bug eyes she was giving you and the smiles?"

Ellis shrugged, "Yeah…so what?"

"Oh, never mind, just forget I ever said anything. Back to the legend…I have a few questions."

Ellis munched on a fry, "Shoot."

"What happened to Faye? I mean after the battle. If Scar was victorious…does that mean Faye just…?"

Ellis shrugged, "No one knows what happened to Faye. Some say she just disappeared, but others think she wasn't completely defeated and that she will return some day to re-duel Scar. I personally think that she wasn't and will rise again to finish the battle."

Colby thought about it…she always was one who doubted the truth and always reached for the impossible. She decided that was the theory that she would choose to believe also.

"I agree with you Ellis…but what did you mean by 'trainers in the sky'?" Colby asked, munching on her crispy chicken fingers.

"This is how my father told me the story…so I'm not exactly sure. But I did do some research on the legend... Most say that Scar and Faye were Stellar Spirits."

Colby was really interested now, "What are Stellar Spirits…?"

Ellis took another bite of his burger and chewed slowly.

"Well, the concept is kind of difficult to understand…though I will try my best to explain it to you. The belief is that once a great trainer dies, and this works for Pokémon too by the way, they become kind of a spirit. I'm not talking about your ordinary spooks, but more like a spirit with real body and power."

Colby was confused, how could you be a spirit and have a real body at the same time?

"Wait…you just said Scar and Faye were spirits. How can a spirit have a real body and power if they are dead?"

Ellis took a drink of his water and sighed, "I told you it was difficult to understand. Um…well, they aren't really dead. Their body is physically dead, but their soul still is present. Legend goes that their actual bodies were killed in The Great Battle, but their souls kept fighting. The powers that they had as live beings, stayed with their soul and fought if that makes a bit more sense. The soul underwent a separation from the body at physical death because of the intensity. I know, it's extremely confusing."

For some reason this explanation of the Stellar Spirits and The Great Battle was ringing a bell for Colby. It was as if the Battle was familiar in some way or another…but she couldn't put her finger on the reason.

"Okay, I sort of understand now…though it's a bit strange." Colby said, with the story running through her mind at hyper speed.

"Any more questions?"

Colby shook her head and finished off her chicken, "Not the moment, but I'm almost positive that I will have some later."

Ellis smiled and put away his map of Aurora. Natasha returned with a receipt and sat it on the table.

"That will be 4.75," She said in her girly voice.

She gave Ellis another one of her puppy eyes looks and he just ignored her again. Colby shuffled around in her bag, and grabbed some money. By the time she got it out, Ellis had already given Natasha a 5.

"Just keep the change, thanks." He said to her plainly.

Colby put away her money and resisted the urge to knock Natasha in the head. She seemed like a real dimwit. She smiled one last smile at Ellis an ran off, "Have a nice day!" She called over her shoulder.

Ellis rolled his eyes, "She's desperate."

Both of them bust out laughing, and for Colby it felt good. She hadn't laughed in a while.

"Ready to hit the road?" Ellis asked.

Colby nodded, grabbed her stuff and hauled herself out of the booth. They exited the café and continued down the cobblestone street, passing people and Pokémon of all types. The buildings of Portsburg seemed to reach to the sky. They gleamed in the sunlight, reflecting back a brilliant silver sheen.

"Why are those buildings so…shiny?" Colby asked Ellis, who was looking out over the water.

"The invention of some new type of metal alloy I think. They found it to keep in heat or cold easier and still be strong at the same time. I forget the name, but its used in most of the buildings in Portsburg," Ellis explained. Colby nodded and watched all the people pass by her with Pokémon…it sort of mad her sad that she wasn't one of those content city folks out for a stroll with their Houndour.

Ellis steered to the right and went down an alley between two streets. It was fairly clean and well lit, except for a few scraps of trash by the big blue dumpster on the right.

"We have got to go through these back alleys to get to the main road. It's just faster and we can avoid the crowds. When ships dock, there is usually-" Ellis got cut off by Colby shushing him.

She did a three sixty and listened intently for the sound again. "What was that?" She whispered.

Ellis looked confused, "What? I didn't hear anything-"

He was cut off by the sound again. They both fell into silence and heard something like whining coming from somewhere in the alley. It sounded like whimpers of distress or pain.

"Where is that coming from?" Colby whispered.

Ellis stayed quiet and listened intently. It sounded like it was coming from, surprisingly, the dumpster. Colby started toward the dumpster, but Ellis stopped her.

"Wait…you don't know what is making that sound…you have to be careful."

"I know…but something tells me it's not dangerous. I'll be okay," She assured him.

She padded forward and attentively lifted the heavy, metal lid of the dumpster. What she saw made her gasp with horror. It was a Pokémon.

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><p><strong>AN: Review and let me know what you think! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Colby was stunned by what she saw. A little Pokémon was lying in the dumpster, surrounded by trash. Its huge chocolate brown eyes seemed to be seeing right through Colby's eyes and into her soul.

The Pokémon's reddish brown hair was matted severely and in clumps. Huge ears stuck out of the mats of hair, seeming happy to see someone. The tail was also matted. This little Pokémon was all alone in the dumpster, sad and scared. Who in their right mind would do this to the poor creature? Who ever did, Colby wanted to go on a manhunt to teach this person a lesson. "Ellis…look…" She whispered.

Ellis came over slowly and peeked inside the dumpster.

He gasped, "Oh…what is he doing in here?"

Colby shook her head back and forth at the cruelty of some people. "This looks like no Pokémon I have ever seen…its almost like a cross breed…what do we do now?" Ellis asked.

"Well, we can't just leave him here! He's hurt, look!"

Colby pointed out, gesturing towards some burns on his back and side. The Pokémon whimpered again and Colby's heart almost tore out of her chest. Then, right there, she got it. This Region had brought her here for a reason. She had happened to pass by this alley, but not by accident. It was meant to be, and she knew it. The little guy was meant to be her Pokémon, meant to travel Aurora with her, meant to be her best friend.

Without even a much as hesitation, Colby picked up the little Pokémon and held him to her. The burns on his back looked fairly critical and his fur was a mess.

"We have to get him to a Pokémon center immediately. He needs medical care, now," Colby told Ellis.

Ellis nodded, seeming to understand. "There is one at the end of the alley here and on the right. Lets go get this little guy healthy again."

Colby practically ran to the Pokémon Center, but carefully so that she didn't hurt the Pokémon even more. The Center came into view, a huge green and white building on the corner of the block. The automatic doors whooshed open with a satisfying hiss and Colby stepped in with Ellis hard on her heels. Good thing the Center was practically deserted, because this Pokémon needed some serious care.

"May I help you?"

A middle-aged woman with light brown hair asked from behind the counter.

"Yes! Ma'am, this Pokémon needs care immediately. We were walking in an alley and we found him in the dumpster like this. Can you help him?" Colby blurted out, showing the nurse the injured Pokémon.

The nurse gave the Pokémon a good look and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Oh! He has some severe burns…it looks kind of like…but it couldn't be…" Colby was confused, "What? It couldn't be what ma'am?" Ellis asked, concerned.

The nurse looked up slowly from the Pokémon and shook her head slowly.

"This Pokémon…I am afraid, is a victim of mutation and experiments. In the dark parts of the Hecate region, new technologies have been developed to make this possible. This one looks like he was a cross between and Eevie and a Vulpix."

Ellis was right! Colby glanced at him and saw the shock present on his face.

"This is the first of those patients I have gotten in a while…normally…they don't…they don't make it…" The nurse explained sadly.

"Well…well, you have to try! Please nurse, please!" Colby begged.

The nurse stood there in silence for a few seconds.

"I will do what I can. This one looks to be fairly critical. I will try my best, but there are no guarantees sweetheart."

Colby gave the Pokémon one last look. His chocolate brown eyes starred into her blue ones. He had something on his face that looked like determination. Like, I am going to make it, for you.

Colby trusted the nurse to save him if she could and watched with angst as the Pokémon was whisked away by the nurse. Ellis walked over to a chair and put his head in his hands.

"I can't believe this…how could people do this? How could they! Who is heartless enough to experiment on helpless Pokémon?" Ellis mumbled with sadness.

"Team Lunar, that's who." Someone said.

Colby looked up and saw someone hidden behind a paper across from where she and Ellis were sitting. The paper dropped and a middle aged man was staring at them, frowning. His light brown hair was beginning to gray slightly and his face was clean shaven. He was wearing a brown suit and from his pocket hung a gold pocket watch chain.

"Who?" Ellis asked him curiously.

The man pulled out his watch and checked the time, then snapped in back closed again.

"Team Lunar. They are the ones experimenting on the Pokémon. The same thing that happened to the one you brought in, is happening to hundreds of others every day."

"How do you know this?" Colby asked.

The man looked at her with a blank, but warning, stare.

"Because, I _used_ to be one of them."

Colby's anger rose up, "_You_? You used to mutate innocent Pokémon and throw them into dumpsters?" She snarled with fury.

No one, not even a Pokémon, should be treated that way.

"No, I mean I _used_ to be a member of Team Lunar. I ceased to be when they started experimentation, a little over two months ago," The man explained, clearly offended by her false accusation.

"Who is Team Lunar?" Ellis asked again.

The man sat the newspaper on the seat beside him and folded his hands on his lap.

"All you need to know is that they are the wrong crowd to mess with. Anyone with the motto "Darkness will prevail" is someone you need to avoid. If I were you two, I would take your little Pokémon and I wouldn't publicize it too much. He was supposed to be dead, all the subjects were supposed to die. Leaving no evidence. Your little Pokémon is lucky to have lived, because most don't."

Colby felt a surge of anger towards Team Lunar, how dare they? "Well, look at the time, I must be going," The man said slyly, flipping open his pocket watch and standing up.

"But, wait! Sir, can you tell us anything more that could be of help?" Ellis called as the man was walking off.

He stopped in his tracks, turned and made eye contact with them both. "You will see me again very soon. Keep your Pokémon safe, because someday that may be all you have."

He turned on his heel and walked out slyly, without another word.

* * *

><p>Colby and Ellis waited patiently in the Pokémon Center for what seemed like forever. Colby's thoughts were buzzing the whole time and her worry meter was breaking the scale.<p>

What if the Pokémon didn't make it? How could she go on without a Pokémon to travel this brand new Region with? After her parent's deaths, she decided to come to this new Region and hopefully start a better life…how could it be a better life when the first thing that happens is a death of her Pokémon?

That seemed too much for her to bear. Just as the possibilities were beginning to get to her, the nurse came back.

Colby jerked out of her seat and was eager to hear the word. So far, so good, the nurse didn't seem too sad.

"I've got good news. Your little Pokémon is responding well to the treatment Chancey is giving him. I personally think there is a good chance that he will make a full recovery. That Pokémon is a fighter if I've ever seen one. He has grit."

Colby smiled and exhaled a breath of relief. He was going to make a full recovery. That filled her with a great happiness, which was another first in a while. But she didn't need the nurse to tell her that the Pokémon was a fighter. She saw that determination in his eyes from minute one.

He had been through a lot, and he wasn't giving up the battle so easy. Ellis also had a smile on his face and light in his blue eyes.

"That's so great nurse!" Ellis exclaimed.

"Thank you so much nurse! Can we see him?" Colby said.

The nurse hesitated for a moment and then saw she genuine concern on Colby's face.

"Well…oh, alright. But just for a few minutes because he needs time to recover."

Colby smiled, "Thank you again. I don't know how I can ever thank you enough."

The nurse returned the smile and led them down a hallway, passing many rooms. She veered right to room seventeen and quietly opened the door. The room was small but was packed various instruments of medical paraphernalia were everywhere that you glanced.

The medical capsule was in the center of the room, and the Pokémon lay on it with his eyes closed. There were various tubes and wires attached to him, which made Colby's heart jerk. She really hoped he wasn't in too much pain…

His coat looked a bit better. Some rats were still present but the majority of the matting was gone. Bandages covered the once present burns that covered the Pokémon's back and legs. Colby and Ellis approached the round capsule, carefully to inspect the Pokémon.

"What exactly is he…?" Ellis asked quietly.

The nurse looked puzzled, "Well…as I said, I've only treated a few hybrids in my career. This one looks to me like he is a cross between and Eevie and a Vulpix. We don't exactly have a name for the species, because after all, he is a cross breed."

Ellis nodded agreement and continued to study the Pokémon with interest.

"What are you going to name the little guy, Colby?" Ellis asked, with a smile on his face.

Colby gazed at the Pokémon. He needed a good name…one that fit. A smile came to her face, and she looked at him with light in her eyes.

"His name is Nicksy."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Review and let me know what you think! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"So I'm thinking if we head east from Portsburg we can stop by my town, so I can give Eddie to Rosie, then we can begin the journey…" Ellis explained, pointing to the map.

They were sitting on a bench in the Pokémon Center with a table pulled up in front and the map on top. Colby thought about this great journey that they had ahead of them. This was really a huge undertaking…the Aurora region was big. But not as large as Hecate…but still, she didn't have to worry about the old life anymore.

It was a new start, and the old didn't matter anymore. She would try to stay positive, overcome the depression, and live her new life with her new Pokémon, to the fullest.

Colby was puzzled as she looked at the map. The Portsburg dot was at the edge of the docking area, but there was one problem…Route A ran northeast of them…but to the small dot that Ellis pointed as too being his town, didn't have a road connecting it to Portsburg.

"Um…Ellis. One slight problem, how are we supposed to get to Afron Village if there is not a road connection from here to there?"

Ellis laughed, "Well the cartographers couldn't put _every_ road, historical landmark, or landscape type on there! They just got lazy. To answer your question, there actually is a small road that runs between Portsburg and there. It's just not on the map."

How absurd was that? The true purpose of a map was to show the roads and such…how does it help if some of the roads aren't labeled? "Well…that's dumb. But oh well, tell me a bit about Afron Village," Colby replied.

Ellis pointed to the little dot on the map, "It's a small, small Village just a few miles from Portsburg. I've lived there all my life, and this is actually the first time I have been out of the village, except on trips with my father to Portsburg. The majority of the homes are just little huts. You know like the ones you see on the old movies that settlers lived in? It's really neat, because on the outside, they look shabby. But, on the inside, it's just like a regular house! It's like camouflage in a way…just more advanced," Ellis said, with a silly smirk on his face.

That really was quite interesting…huts that were camouflaged. Back in Hecate, everything was older. The Region had been alive for a while, and most of the houses were getting old. Colby's parent's house had been fairly new, since they lived in the newer part of the houses. It was just a simple two-story house with green shutters…

She mentally smacked herself for even thinking about it. She didn't even realize Ellis was still talking.

"The main industry there is farming…Yeah, lame I know, but it's enough to keep the town alive. Sadly, there isn't a Pokémon Center or anything but there is a shop that one of the families owns with the essential supplies. Well, that's really about it. Sorry if I bored you to death," Ellis finished. Colby imagined the small village in her mind. It gave her a homey feeling just thinking about somewhere to call home.

"Ok, that sounds great!" Colby said, smiling at thought of getting on with their journey.

"But anyway, once we have gone to my village…are you interested in becoming…a real trainer?" Ellis asked.

Colby looked at him and thought about Nicksy…would that be what the little Pokémon would want? Of course she was interested…but Nicky's feelings on the topic were what really mattered. The look that Nicksy gave her was one of great determination and will. If he kept that, then they would have a good chance of becoming a great team together.

"Personally, yes, I would love to be a trainer. But…Nicksy…he's been through a lot and I don't know if I will want to…" Colby trailed off.

She would hope that Nicksy would want to become her Pokémon.

"He is a fighter, like the nurse said…and yeah, he's been through a lot," Ellis replied.

Colby sighed, "We will see what happens. But yes, it is my intent."

"In that case…wait, you know how being a trainer works right?"

"Sure! You travel around the different cities in Aurora and win badges. They train their Pokémon to be the best that they can be. Throughout the journey, the trainer and their Pokémon become closer, therefore creating a stronger bond and trust," Colby explained,

"Eventually, the team and the trainer take on the Elite."

Ellis gave her a thumbs up, "Great! You seem to have a pretty good idea of how it works."

Colby nodded, "Well, yes I'm not totally ignorant on the subject. After all, my dream was to become an assistant to one of the Elite in Hecate…" "Anyways," Ellis said, pointing to the first large dot on the map labeled Ft. Jonova,

"this is the first gym that we have to train and win the badge. In order for that, we will need to go on Route A."

Colby nodded, "Yeah, I think if we train hard enough that we will be able to make it. But, what type of gym is it? Also, do you know the leader?"

"According to what I've heard, it's a Psychic type gym. The leader is…"

Ellis stopped, and pulled out a rectangular device that looked like some type of portable phone.

"What's that?" Colby asked with curiosity.

"Oh! It's a new technology that they developed not to long ago called MID. It stands for Mobile Interaction Device. It's kind of like a moveable computer with a mobile phone built it. I can even go on the internet with it!"

Colby was awed by the little object that could do all that and still fit easily into the palm of Ellis's hand without a problem. They never had anything that advanced in Hecate.

Of course, yes they had mobile phones, but nothing that was a computer also. The technological advances of Hecate were mainly focused on Poke Ball development and medical care.

Slowly, Hecate was making bounds toward technology this advanced. In fact, just the day before Colby had left Hecate, the newscast that morning had a headline story pertaining to a new type of device that would go on sale with qualities such as the MID. It wasn't as advanced or as pulled together as MID but it was good enough for the public.

Ellis clicked on a button that seemed to be built into the clear screen and fast as lighting, typed in Ft. Jonova gym leader. The results came up almost instantly and Ellis clicked on a page.

The screen pulled up a solid black background and big white lettering for the words on the page. At the heading, it said **Ft. Jonova Psychic Gym **in huge white letters. As Ellis scrolled down the page, a picture of a guy with black hair wearing an awesome black and green cloak was posing with some Pokémon.

He had a smirk like smile on his face and was standing back to back with a Mr. Mime with both of their arms folded in front of their chests. Standing in front of those two, stood a Slowbro and an Abra with unblinking gazes, as if they were completely serious.

"It says that his name is Josh… he looks pretty arrogant to me," Ellis said, with a sour look on his face.

Colby shrugged and continued to stare at the picture with curiosity. Taking on this leader would be the first part of her journey to the Elite. She couldn't believe she had even gotten this far. In the process making tons of mistakes, but everyone was human after all.

"Arrogant? Yeah…I suppose a bit…but he also looks like one of those people that means business you know?" Colby added to the theory.

Ellis exited the program and put the MID back in his pocket.

"All I'm saying, is I don't think we would get along well…but, you can't judge a guy buy his picture…"

Colby snickered at this, "I thought it was 'you can't judge a book by its cover'…"

Ellis flashed a silly smile, "Yeah…I guess it is. But oh well! In this case, my improvisation works. So I'll use it!"

"Well, he's going to be our opponent, so technically you don't have to get along. You just need to be a good enough trainer to beat him."

Ellis rolled his eyes, "Why is this even important? We know that he is Ft. Jonova's gym leader and that he is Psychic type. What else matters?" "True…true. Hey! Here comes the nurse."

They stood up and greeted the nurse, who had a smile on her face. "Good news you two. Nicksy is doing wonderful, and he should be fully recuperated in an hour or so. Aurora has some of the best in medical technology, and so we can heal a Pokémon three times as fast."

Colby put a smile on her face, "That's great nurse! Thank you so much, because you don't know how much this means to me."

"It was nothing. I am glad to help you kids and your Pokémon. I'm guessing you are going to become trainers?"

Colby and Ellis exchanged a look, "Well ma'am, that's the plan if Nicksy is up to it of course," Ellis replied, with a look of anxiousness on his face.

"Smart kids, smart kids. The needs of the Pokémon are important. I'm not just talking food, shelter, and water. I am talking respect, trust, and love for the Pokémon itself. It's a proven fact, that a trainer that has a stronger bond with their Pokémon will be more successful in the long run. It's better if you learn that before you go on the journey, because the first few weeks are the most important."

Colby absorbed all that the nurse was saying like a sponge. Who knew just a simple decision like this could influence her in battles down the road?

"Thanks for that great wisdom nurse. If you don't mind, I wanted to show Colby the rest of Portsburg before we get started on our journey. This way, we can give Nicksy the time he needs to heal," Ellis said.

The nurse nodded, "Surely! I won't keep you from sightseeing! After all, Portsburg does have some nice ocean views."

"We will be back shortly to check on Nicksy. Goodbye nurse," Ellis called as they exited the Pokémon center.

Now it was dusk, and a whole day had almost flew by in what seemed like a matter of hours. Colby breathed in the brisk Portsburg air and gazed at the big disk of the sun slowly start to crash for the night on its bed of the horizon. Colby and Ellis came back onto the main road, which they had followed when the Nighthawk first docked. Salt spray whisked over Colby's face and kept her cool. She couldn't believe so much had happened in one day.

Docking in Aurora, seeing some sights, and even finding a Pokémon of her own. If this was an average day in Aurora, she wondered why everyone wasn't here! This place was just simply amazing so far!

"Crazy day, huh?" Ellis said, interrupting her thoughts.

Colby snapped back into reality, "Huh...oh! Yes! Defiantly one of the most…interesting I've had in a while."

Ellis smiled, "So I'm guessing you're starting to like it here?"

Colby nodded furiously, "Yeah…It's so much better than my old life in Hecate…that was just…"

She stopped and instinctively put up her Human Barriers again.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Colby shook her head firmly, "No," She said with a bit of a snap behind it. The natural thing was for her to be hostile…because that was all she had known for this past year. Yes, she had made some huge leaps and bounds with Ellis. As in not being so mean…but things weren't exactly all better. She was still partially in the depressed mindset, but it wasn't showing as much anymore, at least toward Ellis.

"I'm sorry…but I just don't like to talk about it…" Colby trailed off.

"Hey, it's ok. No big deal," Ellis assured her.

Colby looked up at the huge buildings again and scanned the skyline. "Wait…what is that?" Colby asked.

Ellis followed her gaze to the top of a rather short line of buildings that seemed to be the older side of Portsburg. What looked like a girl…and a Pokémon of some type seemed to fly over the tops of the buildings.

With some squinting, Colby could tell that she was actually running along side this Pokémon and jumping over the breaks between the buildings. Then, something made here jaw drop, the Pokémon (which Colby had identified as a Scyther) seemed to morph into a Dragonite right in front of her eyes.

Ellis sputtered with confusion, "Wait…wasn't that just a Scyther?"

Colby had a derp moment and just kept watching the girl run with the Dragonite. Then, just as quickly as Dragonite had appeared, the Pokémon morphed again and transformed into a Blaziken.

"What the hel-"

"Oh!"

Colby interrupted Ellis as the girl and the Blaziken tripped.

Colby and Ellis quickly sprint to the neighboring alley and find the girl and the Pokémon dazed in the middle of the alley.

Now the Pokémon had changed again. This time, it was a Zorua, one of her favorite Pokémon. The girl's green eyes were wide and her long brown hair was wild around her face. Her small, wire glasses were crooked on her face which made her look fairly amusing, but only for a moment. The Zorua seemed to be fine, and sneezed.

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright?" Colby asked, running over to the dazed girl. She almost jumped out of her skin when she saw Colby.

"Oh! You guys…you guys saw that…?" She asked with a look of horror on her face.

Colby was confused, "Yeah…but are you ok?"

The girl sprung up and paced in front of the Zorua.

"Yeah, I'm fine…but that's…so humiliating…we had almost mastered the routine."

The little Zorua whined, "Oh, its alright Zero! Don't worry about it, because you did your best, and that's all I will ever ask for!"

She assured the Pokémon, picking it up and giving it a hug. "Uh…what were you doing that for anyway? Jumping buildings…is a bit dangerous," Ellis asked, also rather confused at the moment.

The girl's green eyes were wide with surprise as she glanced between the two.

"You mean, you really don't know? Then you mustn't be from around here…" Ellis and Colby shook their heads.

"Ah, that explains it. I was Free Running!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Review and let me know what you think! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Colby and Ellis gave each other glances of surprise. Was this girl crazy? Jumping over buildings was treacherous, even if the buildings weren't that tall. Still, she and her Pokémon could be seriously hurt, if not killed. "What's your name, girl?" Colby asked, with not the friendliest of tones.

After all, she still wasn't totally cured in not rejecting people. She seemed to notice the bite in Colby's voice and gave her a blank stare.

"I'm Amanda…and this is Zero, my Zorua," She explained, giving Zero a squeeze.

Colby nodded slowly and glanced at Ellis again.

"So, you said you were Free Running? What exactly is that?" Ellis asked, his blue eyes flickering between Amanda and Zero.

Amanda pushed her glasses up and pointed to the top of the nearest building.

"Well, it's kind of like a sport in Portsburg. Not an official sport by any means, but a sport of the local trainers around this area. Basically, of my friends named Sam enjoyed running with his Pokémon in an open area. He had a Pidgey, which as a flying Pokémon, couldn't exactly run. So, he decided that he would run with the Pidgey, the flying type style. Sam decided that he would invent something called Free Running that would in a way simulate flying. He lived in an apartment area where the buildings were fairly close together, so he decided that the basis of Free Running would be from jumping from building to building with your Pokémon,"

She paused and took a breath.

"Anyways, he soon began to do this. Other's caught on and eventually made it into a neighborhood competition of sorts. Eventually, the sport spread throughout kids in Portsburg. Everyone added the moves part into Free Running. So, like I was just doing, using Zorua's changing ability, made that into our routine. We are training, and will eventually compete!" The girl finished and Colby was in awe.

It originally sounded like such a preposterous idea since she wasn't aware what Amanda was actually doing… But it actually sounded kind of fun. Zero was licking his fur and Amanda was stroking him calmly.

"Huh…well, that sounds actually kind of interesting," Colby said, feeling envy that she didn't have her own Pokémon to pet.

Ellis nodded his approval, "Yes, surely an interesting idea. Is that the first time you have fallen?"

Amanda laughed, "Oh no, we fall all the time. I'm not exactly the most graceful person in the world… But, that was the first time that we had gotten all the way through to the last change. I'm sure you two know about Zero's changing abilities?"

"Yeah…but I've never seen those abilities put into a routine before or seen one change forms so fast," Ellis added.

"Oh, yeah, we have been working on the routine for around two weeks now. So far, Zero is doing great. I don't know any other Zorua that has mastered that complex of a change sequence. It has taken us some training, and some dedication of course," Amanda pointed out.

"Well, glad your alright…but we better be going, right Ellis?" Colby said. "Yeah, we have to get back to Nicksy. Nice talking to you," Ellis said to Amanda.

She looked a bit glum that they were leaving.

"Wait…before you guys go. I just have one question. Are you two real trainers? I'm guessing we are close to the same age? Between 15 and 16?" Amanda asked.

Colby and Ellis exchanged looks again. Should they tell her? She seemed fairly harmless…

"Yeah, we are both those ages. We are actually going to become trainers as soon as we pick up my Pokémon," Colby 5told her.

Amanda's eyes lit up and a smile came to her face.

"Well…I-I mean, I don't mean to be a burden…or intrude on your personal time, but do you think maybe I could come with you on your journey? Zero and I were going to become trainers also…but I can't find anyone to go on the journey with. It's a long way around Aurora and I'd rather not go alone. I promise we won't be a burden…" Amanda stuttered, clearly pleading with them.

Colby glanced at Ellis. At first, she really resented the idea…because, well, it was more people. But, one more couldn't hurt, she guessed. It was up to Ellis, so she stayed silent as he thought.

"I think there is room for one more in our group. Right Colby?" Ellis asked. Colby looked between Amanda's pleading face and Ellis. Why not…? "Sure…" Colby said, still a bit unsure of people.

Ellis shot her a look that said everything was going to be ok. "Welcome to the team, Amanda and Zero!" Ellis congratulated, with a smile on his face.

Amanda's face lit up and she burst into a huge smile.

She danced around with Zero, "Did you hear that Zero? We are going to become trainers! Real trainers!"

Zero seemed to be smiling along with his trainer. His black eyes seemed to be dancing and he was making noises that seemed to be a sign of elation.

"Thank you guys so much! I can't believe this!" Amanda said, happiness clearly flooding her.

"Don't mention it. It's going to be a great journey…and besides, I need to make some more friends besides the carrot here," Colby said, with a smirk on her face as she used the nickname for Ellis.

Ellis gave her a sour face, "Oh, shush. I'm not a carrot!"

Colby laughed the slightest bit, "Well, Amanda, we have to get back to Nicksy. So far, the plan is to head out tomorrow morning at eight. Meet us in front of the Pokémon Center then and we will get going."

Amanda nodded furiously, "I will be there! Thanks so much guys! See you tomorrow," She smiled, and bounded off into the dark alley.

Colby gave Ellis a look of silliness.

"I can't believe what just happened. That Zorua was amazing!"

Ellis nodded his agreement, "I know! I've never seen that many changes in that short time. Let's get back to Nicksy, because it's getting late. Sorry we didn't actually get to do any sightseeing…"

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm glad that we will have someone to keep us company along the journey."

But in truth, Colby wasn't exactly sure what to think. Amanda seemed nice… but her suspicion of people wasn't exactly thinking that this was the best idea.

Colby pushed those worries down and continued the walk in the streetlights of Portsburg with Ellis. The brilliant green lights of the Pokémon center illuminated the street. At least it was fairly easy to find.

When they entered the doors, the nurse was nowhere in site. Two couches were open in the lobby, so they decided to crash there. It wasn't exactly going to be the most comfortable night, but Colby didn't care. A place to sleep was a place to sleep. They were lucky to even have a couch to crash on.

"Well, today has been a fairly interesting day," Ellis muttered from his couch. Colby lay down on the one opposite him and dozed.

"Yeah…it has. So far I'm thinking that I like the Aurora region so far."

Ellis smiled, "Yeah, it's a pretty interesting place. Goodnight, Colby." "Goodnight Ellis…"

Colby mumbled as sleep consumed her like a wave crashing against the Nighthawk…

* * *

><p>Luckily, the strange dream didn't return that she had on the Nighthawk. Colby yawned and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She glanced at the Charmander clock on the Pokémon Center wall, and realized that she was up twenty minutes early. This would be a good time to catch herself up on her PokePages Journal.<p>

Colby grabbed her bag and pulled out the battered black journal, along with her purple fountain pen. She thumbed through the journal of writings, poems, and even some drawings. That was one thing that actually gave Colby some peace, writing or drawing.

Before she knew it, the words were flooding onto the page like an overflowing river. Her thoughts spilled out onto the crisp pages of the journal and she filled one page, then proceeding to the eager next.

Everything from the last few days came from her pen and met the paper, like reuniting two long lost friends again.

The meeting of Amanda and Nicksy, the looks of Portsburg, even the way the ocean smelled, it was all there.

She was just finishing up the last few sentences, complete with a drawing of Nicksy, when Ellis stirred on the couch across from her. He flipped over and yawned hugely.

"Good morning," He muttered drowsily.

Colby stuck the journal back into her pack and stretched.

"Good morning Ellis. Ready for the big day?" Colby smiled.

Ellis stood up, "Oh, most certainly! This is the day I have been dreaming about for my whole life!"

"Same here, and I can't wait to see how Nicksy is doing!" Colby stiffly stood up and went to the nurse's counter.

There she was, as usual, sitting at her desk with a cup of coffee and doing some sort of computer data analysis.

"Good morning you two. Were the couches comfortable enough?" The nurse teased.

Ellis laughed, "Oh, of course nurse. I slept like a rock…sleeping on a rock. Just kidding, thanks again for letting us stay the night."

The nurse waved it off like it was nothing, "Don't mention it. Its no big deal, and we aren't exactly bustling in the night hours. I'm guessing you are ready to take Nicksy and be off on your journey?"

The nurse practically read Colby's eager mind. She was ready for this trek and ready to meet new people, Pokémon, and not to mention see new places.

"That's the plan, nurse. That is, if Nicksy is fully healed…" Colby replied.

The nurse stood up and led them toward Nicky's room.

"Well, his vitals look good and the burns are healing quite nicely. He also seems to be fairly content. So, I think that he is quite ready."

Colby peeked through the window and saw Nicksy curled up in the capsule, facing away from them. There weren't as many wires connected to him, which made Colby feel better. The burns seemed to be scabbing over and it seemed as if his beautiful hair was starting to grow back.

"He looks so much better from when we found him," Ellis said.

Colby agreed, "I know, it's amazing what medicine can do these days…"

"Are you ready to take him?" The nurse asked. Colby gazed at Nicksy, "Yes…we are ready to start our journey."

With that, Colby and Ellis walked back to the waiting room of the Pokémon Center to grab their stuff.

"I can't wait to get this journey on the road!" Ellis excitedly said.

"Me either…oh! Here comes Amanda!"

Just then, the girl came through the door with a smile. She was wearing baggy camo pants, a black t-shirt with a cartoon skull on it, and a backwards cap with a bunch of Unknown on it. Swung over her shoulder was a blue backpack. Ellis exchanged a look with Colby and started to laugh.

"That's a nice hat Amanda," Ellis laughed.

Amanda looked up at her hat and smiled, "Thanks! I thought so to…"

Just then, Zero seemed to explode from the Poke Ball in Amanda's pocket. Her eyes widened with surprise as he emerged from her pocket.

"Ze! Zero!" Zero muttered as he sat down on Amanda's black and green sneakers.

"See! Even Zero is excited to go on the trip," Colby said, with a smile. Amanda pushed up her glasses and returned the smile.

"As I said, this has been our dream for as long as I can remember…"

"Here is l5little Nicksy! All happy and healthy," The nurse said from behind Colby.

She turned around and there sat Nicksy beside the nurse. His bottomless brown eyes were smiling at her and he seemed more vivid than when Colby saw him in the capsule. A smile spread across Colby's face and she bent down to greet the little Pokémon.

She slowly extended her right hand to Nicksy and he sniffed it. "Murr murr!' Nicksy mumbled against Colby's outstretched hand.

He greeted her and immediately came over to sit in her lap. He looked up into her blue eyes and almost smiled. He seemed to know that Colby had been the one to save him and that she was going to be his trainer. "So, Nicksy, are you interested in becoming a team?" Colby asked him softly. Without any hesitation at all, Nicksy responded with a murr. Colby would take that as a yes.

Colby looked up at Ellis, "We have our answer. Lets hit the road guys."

A grin spread across Ellis and Amanda's faces.

"I can tell that all of you are going to become great trainers. I wish you luck on your long journey, and if you have time, come back and visit," The nurse added.

Colby picked up Nicksy and grabbed her pack.

"Thanks so much nurse, and we will come back," Colby said, walking toward the door with Ellis and Amanda.

So the three exited the Pokémon center and waved goodbyes to the nurse, embarking on a journey that would change their lives forever.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Review and let me know what you think :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Do you have any other Pokémon besides Zero, Amanda?" Colby asked curiously.

They had entered the outskirts of Portsburg and were leaving the big city lights behind for the rolling plains. Ellis wasn't exaggerating when he said that the unwritten road to Afron Village was small…three people could walk side by side and that was the width of the road.

It was a simple dirt path that was easily distinguishable from years of footprint wear. On the other side of the path, rolling plains occupied an area as vast as the eye could see. Amanda stopped and started to unzip her backpack.

"Well…I just have Zero…and this." She pulled out something that was wrapped in white cloth.

It was huge; amazingly it could fit in the medium sized backpack. "What…is it?" Colby asked with wonderment.

Amanda slowly unwrapped the object and let the linen fall to the ground. She was holding a huge egg in her hands. It was an egg of a Pokémon of some type.

"Oh…"

Was all Ellis could say as he also gazed at the egg with wonderment. Amanda had a smile on her face as she wrapped the egg back in linen. She zipped up the backpack and started to walk along again.

"What Pokémon's egg is that?" Colby asked.

Amanda shrugged, "I have no idea…a stranger gave it to me. I was passing by the Pokémon Center on the way to my friend Holland's house when a man gave it to me. He said to take care of it and I didn't object…because I've always wanted a keep a Pokémon egg. It's due to hatch in a week or so."

"Oh wow…that's so neat! Can you believe that we will be able to see a Pokémon hatch? This journey is going to be awesome!" Ellis said peppery.

They came to the top of a steep hill and Colby stopped. As she turned around, she could see the morning sun beginning to rise on weary Portsburg. Its brilliant rays of orange and red were reflecting off of the shiny buildings, making them gleam like new silver wear. The sight almost took Colby's breath away.

"It's so beautiful…" Amanda trailed off as they all gave Portsburg one last farewell.

Ellis waved and they began to walk again, toward Afron Village with a smile on their faces.

After about an hour of walking, Nicksy seemed to be fairly tired. That was to be expected, since he was still recovering. Colby decided to carry him for a while since she didn't yet have a Poke Ball for him to call home.

"About how much longer Ellis?" Colby asked.

"Not far…we've tackled the brute of the walk. Maybe about ten minutes or so?"

Amanda and Zero seemed to be fairly content, walking side by side the whole time. Colby looked out over the rolling fields of grass in the Aurora Region. The wind rustled her hair a bit, but sent the swaying grass into rapid movement.

Colby glanced at the horizon, and was awed by what she saw. Out of the wisps of clouds, jagged peaks of mountains could be seen. Snow capped like a cherry on an ice-cream sundae, completing the look.

"Oh…wow…Ellis, you didn't tell me this Region had mountains," Colby said. Ellis glanced at her, "Oh yeah…they are quite beautiful aren't they? Prae Mountains, that's their name."

That was an interesting name. Colby liked it though.

"I'm going to add to that if you don't mind Ellis… The mountains were supposedly, according to legend, were said to have grown up around the crater left over from The Great Battle. You know what that was right?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, Ellis told me the story," Colby replied.

"Good! Well, inside the crater, the Elite now reside in the Spiral Towers, which are where the trainers go for their final battle. I've never actually been there, but some of my instructors said it was a great place," Amanda explained.

Colby was eager to complete their journey just from Amanda's description of the Elite. Her final battle would be a great one, and she wouldn't go down without a hard fight.

"Hey! What's that!" Ellis exclaimed, interrupting Colby's thoughts.

Out of the tall grass, a Pokémon of some type peeked its head out. "It's an…Oddish," Amanda said.

The little Pokémon looked fairly curiously toward them, but it still seemed to be unsure about what to do. Nicksy did though. He immediately stepped out beyond Colby and arched his back in preparedness for battle.

Colby was about to fight her first battle, with Nicksy by her side. She didn't exactly know what type of moves Nicksy was capable of executing… He was a dark and a fire type…so any of those types of moves should be able to work.

Ellis nudged her, "Ready for your first battle? Nicksy seems to know what to do. Just follow his lead and tell him what to do."

Nicksy looked back at Colby with a look of determination in his eye and eagerly awaited the call to battle.

"Nicksy! Use Shadow Ball!" Colby shouted.

The Oddish looked absolutely terrified as Nicksy bore down upon it. Upon receiving the order, Nicksy formed a black ball of darkness and shot it at the Oddish. It was knocked off its feet and into the grass.

"Nice job Nicksy! Now use Tackle!"

Nicksy obeyed and tackled the Oddish with ease. The wild Pokémon didn't seem to have the taste for battle and feinted.

"Murr! Murr!" Nicksy said.

Then the realization hit Colby, they had won their first battle together!

"Great Nicksy! Brilliant!" She said with excitement and she pulled Nicksy into a bear hug.

"Awesome Colby! You handled that like a pro!" Ellis smiled, giving her a high five.

Amanda and Zero looked quite happy and also congratulated her. Colby glanced at the Oddish that was still feinted, and felt a pang of sadness for it.

"What do you think we should do with the Oddish?" Colby asked.

Ellis shrugged, "It will wake up eventually and it's a wild Pokémon. I would just leave it…"

Colby didn't exactly want to leave it…maybe she could take it on as her second Pokémon!

"What if I kept it as my next Pokémon?" Colby asked.

"I'm sure that you could train it! Zero was wild when I first found him," Amanda said, rubbing Zero's ears.

"You could sure try! You're an awesome trainer Colby, and for a first battle that was pretty good!" Ellis congratulated.

"Thanks guys! I think I will try and train the Oddish. I will name her…Mara!" Colby picked up the feinted Oddish and they all continued on their trek to Afron Village, chatting about the battle.

Colby could see the houses in the distance that Ellis was talking about…and they did look like cottages.

"Hey! We are getting close!" Colby pointed out.

It was late afternoon now and Colby was getting hungry. Hopefully, Afron Village had some place to eat. They approached the town and came upon a small cottage that was encircled by a simple white picket fence. Flowers were planted by the door and green grass surrounded the house.

"Well, here it is!" Ellis said, pushing open the gate.

Colby followed him up to the door and watched as he knocked on it. A few seconds later, a light red headed woman came to the door. Her eyes lit up when she saw Ellis and immediately pulled him into a hug.

"Oh, Ellis! I'm so glad you're safe, because I've been so worried," She said. "I'm fine Mom, just glad to be home. Let me introduce you to my friends, Colby and Amanda."

The woman smiled and said hello to each of them.

"Rosie! Ellis is back!" The woman called into the house.

A little girl with flaming red hair came bounding down the steps and tackled Ellis into a hug.

"Ellis! I missed you so much! How is…Eddie?" She asked with eager green eyes. Ellis laughed and pulled a Poke Ball out of his pack.

"He's all safe and sound Rosie. Eddie is just fine," Ellis assured her, handing her the Poke Ball.

She threw it and out popped Eddie with a sneeze. He made a noise when he saw Rosie and tackled her into a hug. Rosie giggled and hugged Eddie back, planting some kisses on his forehead.

"Oh, Eddie! I missed you so much, but not as much as I missed Ellis," Rosie said with a smile to Ellis.

"Why don't you have your friends stay for dinner? I was just finishing it up when you knocked," Ellis's Mom said, assuring everyone in and shutting the door.

"Sure! You guys okay with staying for dinner?" Ellis asked.

"Sure," Colby said.

Amanda agreed and they all filed into the dining room behind Ellis with Colby's stomach rumbling all the way.

* * *

><p>"Your Mom is a good cook," Colby said.<p>

They were all sitting outside on the porch after eating dinner. Ellis's mom had made something that Colby had never actually tried before…to bad she couldn't remember the name of the food she ate.

"Yeah, she is and always has been," Ellis answered.

Amanda was searching through her pack for some food for Zero, who was also hungry. The Oddish was still out cold, and was crashing on the deck beside Colby's backpack.

"So…do you think that this thing will ever wake up?" Colby asked Ellis with a laugh.

"Doubtful…Nicksy smacked him pretty hard." Colby smirked and glanced out over the setting sun with eagerness to get going again.

"Will we just stay here tonight, then set off for Ft. Jonova in the morning?" Amanda asked, finally finding some food for Zero, and watching him eat it happily.

"Yeah, I think that would be best. After all, it is just about sun down, and we won't get very far in the dark," Ellis said.

Amanda nodded her head in agreement and came over to sit with them.

"Do you know anything about the Ft. Jonova gym leader, Amanda? Ellis thought he looked pretty stuck up," Colby asked.

Amanda shrugged, "All I know is that his name is Josh and that he has a Mr. Mime."

Colby nodded agreement, "That's all we know too. Ellis just can't wait to battle him."

Ellis rolled his eyes, "Yeah, right."

For the next hour, they chatted about various things. They talked about everything from Pokémon, to embarrassing stories, and even their dreams. Colby, for once, felt at peace with her new life, new Pokémon, and new friends.

* * *

><p><strong>AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! I am so so so so sorry that I haven't been posting chapters every other day lately. XD I have been busy with school and fighting geography map tests (ewwww) also writing papers (double eww). I will try to start posting again really soon, because the real Amanda has been going through withdrawal from not being able to read new chapters. We can't have that! Anyways, sorry this chapter was so short and succinct, but as I said, I've been busy. Well, just letting you know that haven't fell off the flatness of the earth (ha). Happy reading! ~colbyjackchz (and Nicksy) :p<strong>


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Everyone had dragged out a tent that Ellis's family had and slept out under the stars. Colby woke up and nudged Amanda who was beside her. "Time to go?" She muttered, half asleep.

"Yeah," Colby told her.

Nicksy, Mara and Zero were curled up in the corner of the tent. "Where did Ellis run off to?" Amanda asked, yawning.

Colby just now noticed that he was gone.

"Maybe went inside to get some breakfast or something?" Colby suggested. "Hey guys," Ellis's smiling face popped into the tent right on cue, "wanna see my Pokémon?"

Of course! Colby wanted to see some new Pokémon! Yesterday they saw tons of every shape and species on the way to Afron Village. She was excited to see all the Pokémon in this region, and hopefully keep some sort of documentation in her PokePages Journal.

Ellis opened the tent flap a bit and a little Leafeon padded in, sniffing intently at the tent.

"Aw," Amanda cooed.

Colby's heart almost melted at the sight of the little Pokémon. All Pokémon were adorable…except for the bugs, which she wasn't too fond of. "She's so adorable Ellis! Does she have a name?" Colby asked.

"Her name is Emmera," Ellis said, petting her on the head softly. Amanda scooted over and petted her to. Colby, feeling left out, did the same. Emmera seemed to be enjoying herself, and was rubbing against Amanda's hand with the top of her head.

"Lea, Leafeon," she purred. Amanda smiled and Ellis chuckled.

"She's adorable," Colby said for the second time.

"So, should we be heading out Ellis?" Amanda asked, ready to get on with their journey.

"Yeah, if you guys are ready!" Ellis answered excitedly.

"Well in that case…lets get out of here!" Amanda laughed, grabbing her backpack and hauling Zero out of a dead sleep.

She cradled him in her arms and they all filed out of the tent. Colby also scooped Nicksy up, but was careful to not bump the wound marks that were forming scars.

"Murr…murr," Nicksy mumbled through his drowsiness.

Colby cracked a smile and gave him a squeeze. She couldn't imagine what she would have done if Nicksy hadn't made it…

"He looks so happy," Amanda smiled, motioning toward the sleeping Nicksy in her arms.

"I know…I can't believe how great it feels just to have some companions and a Pokémon of my own… The old future that I had mapped out before I came here is nothing compared to this. I-I almost like it better," Colby trailed off. Something in Amanda's eyes seemed to almost look…understanding. She gave her a nod and caught up with Ellis who was now saying goodbyes to his family. His mother was enveloping him in a bear hug.

"Be safe Ellis… and call when you get a chance," his mom said.

Ellis mumbled an okay into her sleeve, and Rosie bounded down the stairs with Eddie right on her heals. Emmera seemed to have an interest in Eddie, which was a completely different type of Pokémon than her.

She padded over to Eddie and sniffed curiously, then sneezed, falling back on her haunches. Rosie giggled and Ellis smiled his huge, goofy grin.

"Oh Ellis…I'm going to miss you so much!" Rosie said, with sadness in her huge green eyes.

"Rosie, I'll be sure you call you! Don't worry! I will be back some day. Eddie is here to keep you company…but he will never love you as much as I do," Ellis said, down on his knees.

Rosie gave him a huge hug, squeezing with all her little seven-year-old mite. Colby felt a pang of sadness that she didn't have a sibling…that could love her that much. She didn't have anybody… not even parents.

"Take good care of Eddie and Mommy, Rosie," Ellis whispered in her ear.

She finally released him from her grip and scooped Eddie up for comfort. With that, they were off on their journey. Before they disappeared over the ridge, Colby caught a last glimpse of Rosie and Eddie, bidding them farewell until out of sight. Their steps farther and farther away, were leading them into the vast unknown of the Aurora.

* * *

><p>For Colby, it was a new beginning. It was a new journey, a fresh start, which was mutual among the three of them. As the three comrades walked farther and farther from Afron Village, Colby was getting tired of carrying the still knocked out Oddish around, because it was sort of heavy. Good timing, because they had just found a tree to sit under for a break.<p>

Colby plopped down in the soft grass, still cradling Mara. Amanda and Ellis sat down on either side of her and started to chat. Colby was oblivious as to what they were saying, and instead was taking in the beautiful landscape. The huge oak tree that they were sitting under provided shade from the normal day, which was nice.

Its…Ellis hair… green leaves swayed in time with the breeze, which ruffled Colby's hair the slightest. All around, grassland covered the area for as far as the eye could see. The mountain tips could barely be seen jutting out of fluffy clouds in the sky. The road in which they were walking, Route B, was wider than the small path that went lead to Ellis's village. It was an actual Route, being walked by thousands of young trainers from all over the region, who were all striving for the ultimate goal, beating the Elite.

Colby was proud to walk in those same footsteps, and hopefully succeed in the mutual endeavors of the trainers. Her mind wandered back to Mara as she glanced down at the Pokémon. Nicksy had really hit her hard… That also reminded her of something else, which she really regretted. Colby had forgotten to buy Poke balls in Afron Village. But Mara needed a Poke ball…

"Ellis…do you have a spare Poke ball so I can carry Mara around?" Colby asked.

Ellis nodded and rummaged through his knapsack.

"Speaking of that…my mom actually gave us some. Along with some other various things…"

Amanda looked excited, "That's nice of her!"

Ellis smiled and pulled out three Poke balls, handing them to Colby. "Thanks a bunch Ellis…before we go on…I'm going to try and wake this thing up-"

Just as she said that, Mara's eyes fluttered open. Colby came face to face with huge Oddish eyes… Shock registered on Mara's face, which then turned to panic.

"Odd! Oddish!" She squeaked, trying to wriggle free of Colby's grip.

Colby glanced at Amanda or Ellis for some advice, but they looked startled also.

"Colby! Drop Mara, now!" Ellis yelled.

If she had responded a second earlier, everything would have been fine. Just as Colby was about to release Mara, a shock unlike anything she had ever felt pulsed throughout her body. It was like at that very moment, everything just halted. All she could feel was intense pain everywhere, throughout her whole being.

A scream broke the silence, as Mara was ripped off of her. She didn't even realize that she was the one screaming. Suddenly, the pain lessened a bit, but her vision blurred. Like another tidal wave, searing pain overcame her again. It felt like her muscles were contracting, and slowly she sunk to the ground, writhing.

"Colby!" She heard someone yelling.

It all blurred together, and Colby fell into a pain filled, dark ocean, of unconsciousness.

* * *

><p><em>Slowly, Colby opened her eyes, and saw blue all around. Being confused at first, she then realized that she was lying on her back looking up at the sky. She tried to move her right hand, and found that she wasn't affected by the pain or paralysis any longer. Easily, she got up and dusted herself off. Colby had the sudden feeling of elation and free spirit. She couldn't stop herself from grinning from head to toe as she looked around her. Somehow, she had left the company of Ellis and Amanda, and was now standing on a grassy plateau of some type. <em>

_ She padded to the edge of the escarpment and gazed over across the aquamarine, blue ocean. _

"_Beautiful isn't it?" A soft voice said from beside her. _

_ Colby jumped at the sound of another voice and glanced to her right. Standing there a girl about her height with light blue hair, almost to her middle back. It almost gleamed and radiated, making her soft face just glow. Somehow, giving her the illusion of the innocence of a child combined with the wisdom of an elder. _

_ Her eyes were one of almost leaf green and clashed with her blue hair. Colby thought of Ellis and how his bright blue eyes clashed with his green hair. She was dressed in a feet length white dress that seemed to just…fit her somehow. _

_ What was peculiar, and a bit surprising to Colby was that she was partially transparent. Not totally see through, but not totally solid either. Colby noticed, that to the girl's right, Dialga was standing, also looking out over the vast ocean. _

_ Colby's mouth dropped open at the sight of the huge Pokémon, making the girl look puny. Dialga seemed unreal, and was literally radiating a glow. Unlike the girl and Colby, Dialga was totally solid. It's magnificent blue form towered over them both, making Colby have to crane her neck to see Dialga's head. _

"_Who are you?" Colby asked in a smooth voice. _

_ She met eyes with the girl, briefly before she gazed back out to an invisible vantage point in the ocean. _

"_My name is Faye," She said in a clear voice. _

_ Colby's eyes widened and time seemed to just crash to a shocking halt. This…this…was Faye? The Stellar Spirit that was in eternal duel with Scar? The real question was, why was she talking to Colby? _

"_Oh…wow…not to be rude at all or anything…but what do you want from me?" Colby stuttered, not quite knowing what to say to someone as important as Faye. _

_ But…Faye was a Stellar Spirit…did that mean…? _

"_Does this mean I'm…dead?" Colby blurted out, her eyes pleading Faye to say no. _

_ Faye looked at her, and burst out laughing. It was a laugh like church bells ringing on Sunday morning, bright and cheery. Seeming to echo, throughout the vast expanse of the ocean, and maybe even beyond._

"_No, no child. You're far from death, this is just a conjured vision," Faye explained. _

_ The reassurance that she wasn't dead was surely comforting. Colby had just made it to this new land, and started a new life with the greatest friends…there was just no way she was ready to let that go just yet. "Everyone…everyone thinks you are d-dead," Colby said. _

_ Faye gazed at her with her bottomless green eyes again, which had a tinge of sadness deep within. _

"_I know…truthfully, that is partially correct," Faye answered forlornly. _

"_How can that be? But, you have to beat Scar! The fate of…the region depends on it!" _

_Faye sighed, "Before we get into that…you must know the rest of the story first. Come with me, lets delve into the realms of the present, past, and what's to come in Aurora's future," She said, gripping Colby's arm. _

_ Once again, just talking with Faye, she got that impression of great wisdom in a illusion ally young body. In fact, Faye didn't look all that much older than Colby… By four years at the most, she guessed. _

_ Faye acknowledged the presence of Dialga finally, and seemed to communicate with it through some sort of telepathy. Colby could infer this, because they both were stern, and had the same…nature about them. _

"_Dialga is ready. All you have to do is look into his eyes. Anytime beyond when I tell you to do so…is a bad idea," Faye explained. _

"_Why-" _

"_Don't ask questions now, because we are going into the heart of the world's very existence. Look into Dialga's eyes Colby, and watch magic happen." _

_ Colby gave Faye a look of confusion, grabbed her arm, and did the very thing she requested. Slowly, Colby raised her eyes to meet Dialga's. When their gazes connected, she saw the true color of his eyes._

_ It was like a billion rainbows bursting everywhere, and then there was darkness._

"_Close your eyes," and inhumanly voice whispered._

_ Colby, mystified, closed her eyes. She then felt like she was free falling, and was trying to scream, being unsuccessful. It was like her body had gone weightless, and nothingness was around her. Colby was tempted to open her eyes, and just see what was happening… _

"_Bad idea," the voice said. _

_Wait…could it read her mind? What was the voice? Who was it? _

"_Hush your thoughts, it's almost over," it whispered in a calming tone. _

_ The feeling of free falling subsided and she felt a huge blast of wind on her face, blowing her hair back. _

"_Open your eyes," it murmured. _

_ Very slowly, Colby fluttered her eyes open, and what she saw shocked her beyond belief. _

"_This is where the story begins," the voice said. _

_ Everywhere…everything around her…was just black nothingness. There was nothing, absolutely nothing. It was like floating in a dark void, and she only had this voice to guide her. _

_ No one was there, not even Faye, who had seemed to disappear. _

"_I'm right here child…speaking to you from the other side through Dialga," the voice said._

"_W-where am I?" She asked into the void. _

"_You are where the universe began…" _

_ Colby went wide-eyed…the earth began from black nothingness? Why was she even here in the first place? _

"_This is part of the story, the story of time. I would be there…but I am running out of energy." _

"_What do you mean?" Colby asked. _

"_That's not important right now…just watch," Faye said through Dialga. Suddenly, her voice trailed away and a burst of white light nearly blinded Colby. She shielded her eyes a bit, wincing at the brilliant light, now a rainbow of colors that she hadn't even seen before. _

_ Then, the colors faded to a lull gold. _

"_Watch carefully child," the voice said softly. _

_ Colby kept her eyes fixed toward the center of the light, which seemed to be a ball of pulsating energy of some type. The brilliant gold light exploded all around Colby again, and four figures appeared, blocking the light briefly._

_ Colby was shocked to see, that it was Dialga, Palkia, Arceus, and Giratina. Colby couldn't believe she was the one getting to know this stuff…getting to see and experience it. _

"_This is the formation of the universe. Arceus created these three, the Legendary Dragon Trio. Dialga, was time, and was given the abilities to travel through time as it pleases. Palkia was spatial matter, and inherited the ability to form matter. This is why, after the Trio is created, our world begins to take shape. This is the reason why our world is in shape every day, because of Palkia's matter control. _

"_Giratina was antimatter. Originally, it was thought of as being a cooperation between the two, but as time went on, Arceus couldn't take it's violence an banished Giratina," Faye's voice explained._

_ The amazing thing, was as Faye was narrating, this was taking place in front of Colby's eyes. She could see the formation of the universe, the creation of the Dragon Trio, and even the banishing of Giratina. _

_ Colby felt a pang of sadness for the Pokémon, as it was being reprimanded by Arceus. All four of the Pokémon, seemed to glow, like Dialga back in the real time. Colby couldn't believe what she was actually seeing, and was absorbing up the information like a sponge._

_ If only Ellis could see this! _

"_Giratina was banished to a realm called the Distortion World, where the boundaries of dimensions present and past were thin. The power it had, was inter-dimensional travel. When in this Distortion World, Giratina changes into its original form…" _

_ Colby watched Giratina being banished, and felt its pain. She was overcome by emotions of sadness, regret, but more so, anger. Colby slammed her eyes shut, and tried to ward off the bad thoughts. _

"_Keep your eyes closed," Faye said. _

_ Colby obeyed and once again felt the sensation of being sent rippling through time and memories of the past toward the present. She felt nauseas, but that quickly subsided with the free falling over. _

_ Then, the best feeling in the world, wind in her face, and solid ground on her feet. Ocean spray hit her face and she inhaled the fresh air again. "Open your eyes," Faye said, her voice returning to its normal softness. _

_ Colby reopened her eyes and came face to face with Faye again. This time, there was something about her that seemed, different. _

_ Her eyes looked weary, and she was breathing a bit heavy. It was barely noticeable, but she was a little more transparent. _

"_Are you alright?" Colby asked._

_ Faye tried to regain her composure and looked away. _

"_I'm fine…just takes a lot of energy," she answered. _

"_Energy?" Colby echoed._

"_Don't worry about it now…it's time for you to go back to your friends. The little green headed one is pretty freaked out," Faye said with a half smile. Colby's head was still buzzing with questions when things started to just…fade into blackness. She could still see Faye and Dialga on the escarpment, the wind blowing Faye's hair around her like a veil. _

_ Dialga shone in the brilliant sunlight, and was careful to avoid eyes contact with her…because well, she knew what happened with eye contact. "Wait! Will I ever see you again?" She called._

_ Everything started to turn dark, and the last bits of sight were receding from her vision. _

"_Soon…very soon," Faye's voice said, getting softer and softer as Colby faded into blackness…_

* * *

><p>"Colby! Colby!" Someone was shouting.<p>

Colby bolted awake and came face to face with a panicked Ellis and Amanda. Her eyes were wide, and she was in a cold sweat from the dream. "Colby!" Amanda cried, and tackled her into a hug.

"A-are you alright?" Ellis asked, joining the bear hug party.

Everything came flooding back to Colby from the vision. Faye, and The Dragon Trio…Giratina. It all flooded her head and was bouncing around in all different directions, in the form of a massive headache. Along with the headache, came a dull ache of pain from her muscles, and a feeling of stiffness.

"Ugh, what happened?" She croaked.

"You got stun sporred by Mara…don't worry, Ellis has her contained in a Poke ball. Maybe you shouldn't have captured her," Amanda said.

Colby didn't blame Mara…because she was just scared and acting on natural instinct. Colby painfully sat up and looked around at everything, still buzzing about the vision.

"Wow…how long have I been out?" Colby asked, rubbing her head.

"Only a couple minutes," Ellis said, with concern on his face.

Wow was right. Only a couple minutes, and it seemed like she was in that vision for hours… Oh the things Dialga's time control could do! If only it could make her feel a bit less crappy right now.

"Are you alright?" Amanda asked again.

Colby nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine…just a few sore muscles and a massive headache."

"I'm thinking it would be the best idea to spend the night here and head to Ft. Jonova tomorrow morning," Amanda suggested.

Colby and Ellis seemed to agree, both nodding. Nicksy, who had been sitting by Colby through out this whole ordeal, was now curled up on her lap and looking at her with his bottomless, chocolate eyes.

"Murr, murr," He purred as she petted him.

"Nicksy really likes you, you know," Amanda said, petting Zero thoughtfully. Colby smiled, "Let's hope so…because if we are going to be true trainers, we need to be a team."

Ellis smirked, "Now if you only could get a handle on that stun spore!"

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: Hope you enjoyed that chapter guys :) Hopefully not to confusing! Thanks for being faithful readers and I will try to get out more chapters asap :p You're all awesome! Review and comment to tell me what you think! -colbyjackchz<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

The next morning, like usual, Colby was up before anyone else. She was what you called the 'early riser' of the group and always seemed to beat everyone waking up. At the moment, this was a good thing, because with everyone in dreamland, she could now write in her journal.

Colby wiggled out of her sleeping bag, and hopefully didn't disturb Ellis and Amanda, beside her. Ellis was sound asleep, as was Amanda. Nicksy, Emmera, and Zero were all curled up at the foot of their sleeping bags, sawing logs. Colby glanced at the time on the MID, which was sitting on top of Ellis's knapsack. 6:30, the clock read in bold letters.

The sun was just beginning to peak over the top of the land, combating the darkness of the night, with bright orange rays of the day. Grabbing her PokePages Journal, Colby flipped it open to the last page she wrote in. She picked up her pen, and didn't have to wait long before the words formed in her head, then spilled out onto the page. Writing in the journal was like second nature to her. It was something that she could always trust and always rely on to listen without protest or bias nature.

From a very young age, she had always loved it. Time and time again, her memories of her childhood involved spending long hours in her window seat, writing. She would write stories, poems, and even just random gibberish. Other than writing, her journal was used as a drawing book to. She wasn't all that good at drawing, but it was another one of those things she enjoyed doing.

Colby flipped the page and started to describe the dream. How could she put into words something so amazing? As always, the words flowed anyway and she documented the experience the best she could. Colby still had so many questions for Faye…She left so suddenly, but was assured that Colby would come back.

Last night, she had barely gotten any sleep…tossing and turning over the vision. Also, the stiffness, and pain in her muscles from the stun spore. Mara could really pack a punch! Colby's thoughts wandered aimlessly, mostly back and forth through different aspects of the vision. In a way, Colby was extremely eager to go back again and learn more. But she was also a bit reluctant…because who knows what the information, or the visions for that matter, could bring upon her.

She glanced at Amanda and Ellis, who were still sleeping soundly with the Pokémon. Sighing, she came to the conclusion that it was just a vision…and that those two didn't need to be bothered with her problems. For now, it was imperative to keep it a secret, and wait it out to see what happens.

For all she knew…it could have been something her own mind conjured… Maybe it wasn't even real at all, and she just had an overactive imagination. But then again, she felt positive deep down inside, that it was a real thing… Maybe she was a bit more than just average.

"Soon…soon…" A voice whispered through the wind.

Colby yanked her head up and glanced around for anyone…but no one was in sight besides Amanda and Ellis, who were fast asleep. The voice blew with the leaves, away, until Colby heard nothing. She had a dipping feeling in her stomach. It had to be real…that voice…sounded like Dialga's and there was a very slim chance that this was a coincidence.

Scribbling in the journal like a mad woman, she finished what she was writing and stuck the journal back in her pack. The sun was now well above the horizon, and the time read 7:23.

Almost with perfect timing, Amanda stirred and accidently nudged Zero, who in response mumbled something. Amanda flipped over, put on her glasses, and blinked at Colby, who was watching her from underneath the huge oak.

"Wow...you get up early!" She commented, wiggling out of her sleeping bag and coming to sit by Colby.

"Yeah…couldn't sleep very well," Colby yawned.

Amanda had a look of concern in her eyes and she glanced at Colby.

"Was it because of the stun spore…? I know you said last night you were a bit sore," Amanda asked.

Colby hesitated, and remembered then how she said that the vision would stay a secret for now.

"Yeah…that was it…" Amanda looked unconvinced…and seemed to be holding her tongue about something.

"I don't think so…Colby, there is something more…You were jerking violently and muttering things when you were knocked out for those few minutes. Did something happen?"

Colby opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. What was she supposed to tell Amanda with that? Who knew what she said? Jerking violently? That could have been an effect of time travel…?

Still, this needed to be kept a secret for now. Ellis and Amanda had their own problems to deal with…and they had just started this journey. Being carefree and having peace was almost a right at this point.

"No…nothing happened. Though I used to jerk around and mumble things in my sleep after my parents died…"

That was more painful to say than Colby had suspected. Using their death as an excuse…just felt like a stab through the heart. But it was necessary.

"Oh…I'm sorry," Amanda apologized, looking guilty for even asking.

"It's alright…just if it happens again, don't be worried. I just have trouble sleeping sometimes, it's ok," Colby assured her.

Amanda said no more, clearly believing the story, for now.

"Want some breakfast? I've got some protein bars," She asked, holding out one of the colorful wrapped treats.

Colby's stomach grumbled, and she didn't refuse. Grabbing a bar, she sat down beside Amanda and started to munch on the meager breakfast. It wasn't much…but it would do until they found something better. Hopefully Ft. Jonova wasn't that much farther.

"Hey! Am I missing breakfast? Save some for me!" Ellis mumbled sleepily.

Amanda laughed and threw a protein bar, which hit him.

"Ow! Protein hurts!"

This time Colby joined Amanda's laughter. Sometimes their little carrot friend was silly.

"So, are we okay to move on today? Or is Colby still…?" Ellis asked between mouthfuls of protein.

"No, I'm good. I can't wait to get to Ft. Jonova, and hopefully win my first gym battle!" Colby smiled, nibbling on her breakfast.

Ellis pulled out his map of Aurora again and showed them approximately where they were, compared to Ft. Jonova. It seemed to Colby that since they were traveling north/ northeast…that the bridge between land and island would soon be coming up.

"So, we should be crossing the first bridge soon then?" Amanda asked.

"Yeah, it should be coming up really soon…in fact, I think I smell the sea!" Ellis said. Colby laughed, yeah-right Ellis.

"Do the bridges have names? Since there are ten all over the span of the Region, did they name them all?" Colby asked.

"I don't know, good question. I would imagine, no, they didn't name each one. They may have a dedication of some type to commemorate each one to a certain person…but there are to many to name," Ellis shrugged.

"Oh who cares guys! They are just bridges," Amanda laughed.

Now that Colby thought about it…the conversation did seem pointless.

"Well, anyways…do you think we need to train some before we try and take on Leader Josh?" Colby asked.

Amanda looked at her like she was crazy.

"Of course we have to train! Didn't your parents always tell you how practice makes perfect, and how success comes with hard work-" Amanda stopped, realizing what she had said.

Pain flashed in Colby's eyes, even though she knew Amanda didn't mean to say what she did.

"I-I-I'm so…so, sorry. I wasn't thinking, I…" Amanda stuttered, and looked at her feet with remorse in clouding her eyes.

Colby gave her a half smile, for comfort.

"It's fine…you didn't mean to. No harm done," Colby assured her.

Amanda snuck a peek at her to make sure she was serious, and nodded. "Yeah, we probably should do some training…hey! I've got an idea!" Ellis said, brightening the mood.

"What is it?" Colby asked.

"What if we train together? We can battle each other to get our Pokémon stronger…then we can take on Josh," Ellis suggested.

Amanda and Colby exchanged looks. It seemed to be a pretty good idea! That way, all of their Pokémon could get stronger at the same time, and they wouldn't be as hard on each other.

"Ok, so should we start now?" Amanda asked, eager to battle.

"If you guys want," Ellis said.

Colby looked between the two and nodded. Why not?

"I call battling Amanda first," Colby shouted, getting up quickly.

A dull throb went through her muscles, but she ignored in and grabbed Nicksy. Bending down to his height, the little Pokémon gave her a look of curiosity. "Would you like to do some training Nicksy? We will be battling Amanda and Ellis, to get you ready for our first gym battle. Does that sound good?" Colby asked.

Nicky's eyes widened with happiness, "Murr! Murr!"

Colby laughed, and took that as a yes.

"Should we just use this clearing area under the tree?" Ellis asked.

"Yeah!" Amanda agreed, standing on one side of the clearing area.

Colby decided to take a chance, and grabbed Mara's Poke Ball from her knapsack. Maybe…just maybe she could train Mara. Colby lined up on the other side of the clearing and faced Amanda. Colby's long black coat blew around her and her hair rustled with the breeze as the two starred each other down.

Amanda pulled her Unknown hat down over her head and nodded to Zero, who was perched on her shoulder.

"Go Zero!"

Zero jumped straight up in the air in a parabola shape, then landed smoothly on the ground in front of Amanda with a thud.

"Go Nicksy!" Colby countered.

Nicksy went from beside her, to out in the field, facing Zero.

"Trainers! Prepare your Pokémon, because it's time to battle!" Ellis called, like an announcer at Pokémon Stadium.

Amanda gave Colby a half smile and seemed to put her game face on now. "May the best trainer win, and Pokémon, let's battle!" Ellis shouted, beginning the battle.

"Zero! Start us off with, agility!"

Zero launched himself into the air and zigzagged across the ground, raising its speed.

"Nicksy, quick attack!"

Nicksy responded, joining Zero in the dance briefly, before he charged.

"Zero! Dodge!"

Zero did as Amanda commanded, barely avoiding Nicky's attack.

"Ember Nic!" Colby called, mentally running through the four moves Nicksy knew. "Counter it with your own ember Zero!"

Colby had a bad feeling about this…two embers being hurled at each other… Zero screeched to a halt, spraying dust everywhere, and produced a bought of fire. It curled at his mouth, and was ready to explode any minute. Nicksy was doing the same, letting the flames fly.

They both released at the same time, spraying white-hot fire in all directions. They were across the field from each other, and where the two blasts met, a large ball of fire was swirling. It kept growing larger and larger as Nicksy and Zero battled it out for control of the blaze. Colby could literally feel the heat from battle, as the fireball grew huge. Nicksy held his ground, and kept pumping fuel to the blaze.

"Zero, feint attack now!" Amanda hollered over the blaze.

Colby couldn't believe her eyes at what happened next. Zero stopped pumping fire, shattering the ball of flames. She called out the next move to Nicksy, as the fire subsided.

Zero burst through the center of the ring of fire, dodged Nicky's ember, and nailed him in the side with feint attack. Amanda was a really good opponent! Nicksy looked a bit dazed, but got up quickly.

"Shadow Ball Nicksy!"

Carefully, Nicksy avoided Zero's feint attacks, and got on the other side of him. Quickly, a ball of darkness formed at his mouth, and exploded into Zero's side. Zero flew back in the dust, creating a cloud, which was oppressing the field.

"Nicksy! Good, now use quick attack!"

"Zero! Agility, then ember!"

Both Pokémon were thrown back into the heat of battle again. Nicksy dodging the flames Zero was shooting, and Zero avoiding Nicky's quick attacks.

This dance seemed to go on forever, and Nicksy seemed to be getting a bit tired. After all, he still was recovering from a pretty serious wound. Still, flames continued to fly, sending heat and orange everywhere.

"Ok, we are done for now…Nic is getting tired," Colby called to Amanda.

She nodded, seeming to understand since Zero was a bit winded to.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle! This battle…has been won by Ellis Corona!" Ellis laughed, from the base of the tree.

Amanda rolled her eyes and got out Zero some water. She handed the bottle to Colby, who gave some to Nicksy. He gulped it down and plopped down on the sweet grass, with weariness about him.

"That was a good battle. You're a great trainer Amanda!" Colby congratulated, sitting cross-legged under the tree by Ellis.

Amanda looked up and smiled, "Thanks! You didn't do so bad yourself. It took Zero and I a lot of practice, that's for sure."

Colby nodded, "I'll bet. His ember was incredible!"

Amanda laughed, "Thanks! As I said, for your second battle, that wasn't to shabby." Ellis looked strained, "When am I going to get my turn? I want to battle to!"

Colby laughed, "Chill Ellis. We aren't going to forget you!"

So that's what the three did for the rest of the day. Battled, shared stories, and even practiced defense, speed, and attack. Nicksy was tired by the end of the day, like everyone else, and crashed early.

Colby lay in her sleeping bag, looking up at the stars and thought about the day's events. Nicksy had gained some good knowledge and experience for battle, though it still needed worked on.

Zero had gotten some good exercise, and Ellis had battled Amanda (losing) with Emmera at least three times. She glanced at Elis, who was asleep beside her in his own sleeping bag and smirked. Amanda had given out many battling tips to them both, and even taught Nicksy some tricks about battle. Colby had learned a lot from just one day, and seemed to flow together with Nicksy a bit better when it came to in sync teamwork.

Just from this one day of hard training didn't even come close to meaning that they were ready to take on the Elite, but it was another step closer. Colby sighed and rolled over.

Hopefully, tonight she would get some better sleep, and just maybe have another vision. She gazed up at the sky, and found her star that her father had claimed hers. Saying her good nights, she closed her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

* * *

><p>The next morning was uneventful. Just a normal day, which included Colby getting up a bit early that everyone else, and recording yesterday's events, battle tips, and strategies in her journal. Amanda and Ellis finally stirred, a bit after nine. "So, are we ready to head for Ft. Jonova today?" Amanda asked, after packing up her stuff.<p>

"You know it!" Colby said, drawing the drawstring on her knapsack.

Ellis wound up his sleeping bag and tied in on the back of his pack.

"Do you really think we are ready?" He asked.

"Of course we are! That day of training seemed to really help the Pokémon," Amanda answered with confidence.

"Well if Amanda confirms it, it's got to be true!" Colby laughed.

Finally, after getting their selves (and the Pokémon) fed, the troop headed out a little past eleven.

Colby's feet crunched over the dirt path and she watched the big oak grow smaller and smaller in the background as they moved toward the first major city, Ft. Jonova. Zero rode on Amanda's shoulder and Nicksy padded beside Colby, perfectly content. Emmera was bounding around beside Nicksy, and seemed to be having a fun racing each other in circles.

Colby smiled at the two Pokémon romping around and watched the grassland flow by beside her. It was a relatively nice day, with just a light breeze blowing in her face. The mountain tips were barely visible now, as they traveled closer and closer to the coast, and to the first gym.

Around three that afternoon, Colby could make out something on the horizon. "What's that?" She asked.

"Hey! It looks like the first bridge to me!" Ellis said excitedly.

They came up on top of a hill, and were awed by what they saw. In the distance, a few miles, was one of the most beautiful things Colby had ever seen.

The green grassland collided with the deep blue of the ocean, which seemed to stretch for miles. They could see the fingers of a double bridge connecting the mainland, with another invisible point (which Colby knew was the first of the claws) to be seen from this moment.

Picking up Nicksy, she inhaled a breath, and smelled the salt of the ocean. Everyone exchanged huge smiles, because they had made it to the first stop on their journey to the Elite. This was the first step on a huge road…a road of victory.

"It's so beautiful…" Colby trailed off.

Amanda and Ellis gave her a high five, and exchanged smiles.

"We made it guys! We really made it!" Amanda said, excitedly.

She gave Zero a squeeze, "We made it Ze! We made it!"

"Ze, Zero!" He squeaked.

"Let's go show Josh who the real champions are!" Ellis yelled, running down the hill. Colby and Amanda laughed out loud and ran after him.

"Ellis, wait!" Amanda yelled, laughing and trying to catch up.

Colby put Nicksy down and broke into a run after them both, backpack thumping behind her. Nicksy, Zero, and Emmera seemed to be enjoying the run, keeping up easily.

Ellis had finally run out of air, at the bottom of the hill and was now waiting for them to catch up (while panting). Amanda and Colby finally caught up, and Amanda smacked Ellis on the arm.

"Not prepared for mad dash running…warn us next time," She teased, trying to catch her breath.

Ellis smiled, "I thought you two would enjoy that. Now, after we caught our breath...who is ready to cross the bridge onto the other side?"

"Me!" Amanda and Colby yelled at the same time.

Suddenly, a voice spoke from behind Colby and Amanda.

"Not so fast, ladies, you're not crossing the bridge yet because… I challenge you two to a double battle, and if I win, I get a date with both of you!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Ha ha ha XD That last line just kills me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter :) and sorry if it was a bit slow... Next chapter (wow…I can't believe it will be chapter ten already! *tear* my stories, how they grow up so fast XD) will be another one of my favorites. Some new characters will be introduced, and a visit from some pranksters! These pranksters, I can guarantee you will grow to love throughout the story :p because I find them hilarious. Anyways, hope you enjoyed guys, and thanks for sticking by Ellis, Amanda, Nicksy, Zero, Emmera, and me for this long. Happy reading! Review and lemme know what you think! –colbyjackchz<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

Out from behind a tree stepped a guy with spiky, flaming red hair. He wore black cargo pants and a black t-shirt that had a picture of a Riachu and said "I'm not gonna Riachu a love song". Colby about laughed out loud at that shirt on him… He had a smug smile on his face, like one of the flirty guys always displayed when around girls. In his hand, he had a black Poke Ball…which Colby had to admit, looked pretty cool.

"Wait…what?" Ellis laughed, amused by the stranger.

The guy's smug smile suddenly changed into a frown when he saw Ellis. His eyes glanced him over, like someone would look at a rotten watermelon. Colby had a bad feeling that these two weren't going to like each other…

"I said, that I challenge these two to a double battle," the guy glanced at Colby and Amanda with a smile, "and if I win… I get a date with both of them."

The guy smiled and folded his arms across his chest, studying the three of them. It was like he was waiting for something, and it seemed like a really awkward moment. Colby and Amanda exchanged looks…this guy was messed up in the head or something.

He still had the smug smile on his face, and Colby was really starting to not like him for some reason. She really wanted smack that grin off.

"What's your name?" Ellis asked, a bit perturbed by red head's motives.

"My name is Riley Giaden. Do I earn the privilege of knowing these two beauties names?" Riley asked, practically down on one knee begging.

"Uh…I'm Amanda," she said, looking uncomfortable.

Colby wasn't a bit phased by his flirting, and shot him one of her signature glares.

"I'm Colby," She said blandly.

Riley's eyes practically turned to hearts, and Colby glanced at Ellis. He looked bemused by this behavior and shot her a look of sympathy. It seemed as if Colby and Amanda were on their own for this one.

"Alright, _Riley_, we will battle you," Colby said with a snap behind it.

She had nothing to fear, because she knew that they would win. Riley seemed like a big bag of fluff and they could surely beat him. Riley smirked, "You'd better start deciding where we are going for dinner ladies."

Colby rolled her eyes and glanced at Amanda, who looked horrified at the idea.

"Let's show this fluff bag what a real battle is," Colby whispered to Amanda. "Nicksy! Prepare for battle," She said anxiously to him.

Nicksy took up his position in front of Colby, facing Riley. Amanda sat Zero down from her shoulders.

"Zero! Let's go," She called.

Zero stepped up beside Nicksy and they met eyes, before looking towards the challenger with determination in their gazes. Riley threw his Poke Ball high in the air and it momentarily disappeared in the sun's rays from Colby's gaze. It came down and popped open with a crack. Out of the Poke Ball, a Growlithe exploded.

"Grow! Growlithe!" He snarled, ready for battle.

Riley threw the other Poke Ball into an arc in the air, and a Riolu landed easily beside Growlithe.

"Riolu!" It called.

"Let's get this party started," Colby whispered to Amanda.

Amanda smiled, and twisted her cap sideways. They were ready for battle. "Zero! Feint attack, now!" Amanda hollered, beginning the battle.

"Nicksy, quick attack!" Colby commanded.

"Riolu, force palm. Growlithe, bite!" Riley countered.

Zero took on Riolu, and Nicksy was stuck with Growlithe. Nicksy evaded the bite as best he could, while landing quick attack blows on Growlithe's side. Zero got hit by force palm, and doubled back, shaking off the paralysis. He regained his composure and threw himself back into the heat of battle, with some fierce feint attacks against Riolu.

"Amanda! Ember! Training, remember? Now!" Colby shouted at Amanda.

Something flashed in her eyes and she seemed to get it.

"Nicksy, Ember!" Colby shouted.

"Zero, ember!"

Both of the Pokémon fell back a little, and stepped in line beside each other. Colby got a glimpse of Riley's battle hungry eyes, before everything went up in flames. Fire exploded everywhere, from Nicksy and Zero's mouths. They really were a powerful team.

"Growlithe! Ember!" Riley called, barely audible over the roaring flames.

This wasn't such a good decision on Riley's part. Colby saw Riolu running around like a mad Pokémon, waiting for orders, while Growlithe was fighting off a huge fireball with his own ember.

Like a repeat of the training battle, a fireball was gaining power and heat as they fought over dominance of it. Nicksy and Zero seemed to be holding their ground fairly well, but Growlithe looked a bit strained as the fireball was getting closer and closer to him.

Colby met eyes with Amanda, "Zero! Agility, then feint attack!"

"Nic, quick attack on Riolu!"

Just like before, the fireball went up in a cloud of smoke, and Growlithe was left confused. Riley had a look of shock upon his face as Zero' burst through the middle of the fireball, and hit the confused Growlithe right on target. Growlithe looked dazed and walked around in circles for a bit, before collapsing.

On the other side of the field, Riolu was fighting off Nicky's quick attacks with its own quick attack. Nicksy landed a solid blow and knocked Riolu off of balance.

"Nic! Ember, quickly!" Colby called.

A wisp of flame curled at Nicky's mouth and he let loose on the Riolu. Still a bit dazed, the Riolu didn't see it coming and became toast. The fire subsided and Riolu was cooked, and out like a light. Colby gave Amanda a high five and glanced at Riley who looked extremely angry.

Dust was everywhere from the ending of the battle, and as the smoke cleared, Colby, Amanda, and Riley starred each other down.

"Mister Giaden, I believe we have won. So, if you'll kindly let us pass, we won't have any more issues," Colby stated bluntly.

Nicksy was winded from the battle, and for the first time, Colby withdrew him into the simple red Poke Ball that Ellis had given her. Amanda did the same with Zero and they grabbed their packs. Ellis came out from hiding behind the tree…since he didn't want to get scorched by ember.

Colby looked across the field at Riley, who looked furious.

"Fine! You win this time…but don't worry ladies, we will eventually have a date!" He called as he disappeared into the tall grass.

* * *

><p>Colby looked at Amanda and they both bust out laughing.<p>

"Date, with us?" Amanda laughed.

Ellis rolled his eyes, "He seems like a total loser."

Colby agreed, "Does anyone else get the feeling we haven't seen the last of that pest?"

"Yeah…I don't think he's going to give up. After all he did say that we won _this time_." Amanda added.

"That was just really weird…but at least you two won your first battle!" Ellis said excitedly.

"Yeah! Maybe we can get you into a battle sometime soon, because you have to practice if you want to beat Josh," Colby told him.

"What are we standing around here taking it about it? Let's go beat him ourselves!" Amanda smiled, starting to walk toward the bridge.

"Yeah! Let's go," Ellis seconded, following her.

Colby caught up to the two and passed the tree where their red headed roadblock had impeded their progress onward. She ran through the gist of the battle in her head, and smiled to herself. Her team had just won their first trainer battle, together. It also felt really good to beat their apparently new rival, Riley Giaden.

Colby glanced at the progress they had made toward the bridge, and it seemed a bit closer. Progress was slow going, but eventually they would make it. Ellis and Amanda chatted as they went on, about nothing particularly important. Colby mostly stayed silent, and enjoyed the quiet company of her thoughts. The only topic of interest they had covered was happening right at the moment. Colby pulled out of her thoughts for a while, and listened.

"Do you have any siblings Amanda?" Ellis asked.

Amanda shook her head, "No…I don't even have a family really… I just stayed in the foster program and bounced around. I don't know my mother, but they did say I have a father that is extremely busy and doesn't get to visit…"

At least she had one parent… But the sad thing was that he was too busy to even spend time with her.

"I'm sorry…" Ellis trailed off.

Amanda brightened, "It's perfectly alright…At least I have Zero."

Ellis smiled, "Yeah, Pokémon are family in themselves… I often miss my mom and Rosie, but Emmera keeps me going till the day I see them again."

After that…Colby returned to her thoughts. As they came nearer and nearer, the bridge got bigger.

By now, salt spray was prominent smell that enveloped the air. Colby breathed in the air deeply and watched as the bridge came into full view. The dirt path that they were walking on now turned to cobblestone as a dock area came into view. Various people were walking around and the area seemed to get busier.

Boats were docked at the vast expanse of aquamarine blue ocean that stretched as far as Colby could see. Fishermen were busy unloading cargo from their ships and packing up to leave on a new journey. The bridge in itself was massive. Solely the biggest thing Colby had ever seen.

It was supported by huge steel beams that zigzagged across to the other side and green land.

"It's huge!" Amanda gasped, marveling at the magnificence.

"Ready to cross?" Ellis asked with a smile.

"Of course!" Amanda said happily.

They took their first steps on the bridge, passing people, Pokémon, and trainers. Colby let her hand slide on the side of the bridge as they walked out over the clear blue water. Everyone stopped about a fourth of the way, and leaned on the rail.

Colby looked down at the blue water, and figured they were at least fifty feet up. She could see a bunch of Tentacruel swimming around below her in the water.

"It's amazing all the Pokémon…" Amanda trailed off.

"I know…so many!" Ellis agreed.

Colby gave them one final look, and continued forward on the bridge. The others followed behind her and she occasionally gazed out over the vast expanse of ocean.

"Hey! There's the land, on the other side!" Ellis said, pointing towards the end of the bridge.

Colby looked up and sure enough, after twenty minutes of walking, they could see the end of the bridge about two hundred yards away. Colby smiled and started to walk a bit faster, eager to get back on land. When they crossed this bridge that would mean only another day's walk or so to Ft. Jonova! Then they would get to battle Josh, and continue on their journey to best the Elite.

"I can't believe we are actually almost to our first gym!" Ellis said excitedly. They had just crossed over the bridge, and were on the road towards Ft. Jonova. Colby couldn't believe they had mad it so far in just a few days. Just thinking about becoming a trainer as good as the Elite, blew her mind. They had passed a docking area on the other side of the bridge, and were now on a forest prone path towards Ft. Jonova.

Trees shot up on either side of the large road (which was paved to Colby's happiness) and kept them shaded from the afternoon sun.

"I know! This is going to be such a great journey!" Colby smiled.

As they walked on, the breeze kept Colby a bit cool…but for some reason she just had an odd feeling. It was like a feeling of being watched… Maybe she was just being paranoid again.

"Hey…um, guys…do you get the feeling that your being…watched?" Amanda stuttered, looking around nervously.

Amanda felt it to!

Colby nodded, "Yeah…that's what I was just going to say…but I thought that maybe I was just being paranoid-"

Colby was cut off by a cry. She whipped her head to the side where the noise had come from, and saw something struggling on the ground. Ellis had wide eyes, and Amanda looked surprised. At first, Colby didn't know what it was… The creature rolled over and looked up at them. Colby then realized, it was a guy and he had fell out of a tree to the right of them.

"Are you okay, sir?" Amanda asked, helping the guy up.

He looked shaken and confused as his shaking hands picked up some little round glasses off of the grass. He put them on, blinked a few times and his eyes widened. He was wearing a long white lab coat with a black and green speckled tie, to match his dark hair. Colby guess he was about twenty-five or so…but he was extremely short and thin.

Ellis looked surprised, "What's wrong sir?"

He looked a bit frightened, and grabbed a bag that he dropped. Picking up the various contents, he nervously stuck it over his shoulder.

"I-I…" He stuttered.

"You don't need to be afraid…we aren't going to hurt you," Colby assured him.

"I…I know that miss….you…well," He said, a bit shaken still.

The man cleared his throat and pushed his glassed up on his face.

"I-I've been looking for you three…"

Ellis looked surprised, "Really? Why?"

Colby was also a bit surprised…they had just met this little man who fell out of a tree…and now he said he had been looking for them. What for?

"Not you three in general…but a suitable three..." He answered, looking at his feet again.

"What do you need three for?" Colby asked, interested now.

"W-well…for the Professor's special project, miss," he responded.

"Special project?" Amanda echoed.

"Yes…it's a rather important project you see…the Professor had an innovation one night. He wondered how he could make his dream, a reality. After years of careful work, planning, and many cups of coffee, it was born," he explained.

Colby was pretty confused…what kind of project was this? Who was the Professor?

"What kind of idea is this?" Ellis asked.

The man once again, looked uncomfortable, and hesitated.

"He has been looking for a suitable three for a very long time… and I was sent to find these suitable three. You three give me a positive vibe, and out of all of the trainers that have crossed this path, you stick out as being the ones. Please, how about I just show you?" The man asked.

Colby looked at Ellis and Amanda, who seemed interested and confused beyond belief at the same time. Still…their adventure was about taking chances, living, and exploring new thing, so why not? Colby nodded towards Ellis and Amanda, who returned the gesture.

"Alright…we will go with you," Colby answered.

The man looked elated, and pasted a smile onto his face.

"Oh! W-well I can't thank you enough! Y-you won't be disappointed…I promise," He stuttered.

Colby inferred that this guy had a stuttering problem…nervous or not. She found it a bit amusing and gave him a smile.

"My name is Mason Stockholm…I'm the Professor's assistant," Mason told them.

"One question…we are heading toward Ft. Jonova so we can challenge Leader Josh…are we going that way to see your project?" Amanda asked.

Mason pushed up his glasses, "Oh yes, miss. The Professor's lab is in Ft. Jonova…we will be going that way."

Colby and Ellis exchanged grins. She was actually pretty excited to see what the 'innovation' was.

"Oh! By the way, I'm Colby, this is Amanda, and that's Ellis," Colby said, introducing the three.

Mason smiled, "Pleasure to meet you three."

They were the suitable three, according to Mason, so what exactly did that entitle?

"W-well, we best get going," Mason said, gathering up his stuff, "wouldn't want to keep the Professor waiting any longer, because he is quite eager to meet the three." Colby nodded, and they followed the little man, as he walked rather quickly in front of them. Colby almost had to walk fast in order to keep up. For a little guy, he could sure move quickly!

"Do you mind if we ask you some questions, Mason?" Ellis asked, looking between Colby and Amanda.

They wanted to know more to, so hopefully he would agree.

"Depends on the question, mister Ellis," Mason responded, turning around to briefly look at him.

Ellis paused, and kept walking, before finally saying something.

"Who is the Professor? What does he do?"

Mason didn't at first answer, but took a deep breath. He kept walking at his fast paced speed.

"The P-Professor, is the Pokémon Professor of the Aurora Region. He studies the species of Pokémon in the area, population density of the species, a-and the legendaries," Mason explained, "He also does a variety of other things to."

Ellis nodded, and Colby's eyes got wide at the mention of legendaries… Could…could it have anything to do with her vision and the Pokémon that formed the Dragon Trio?

"Aurora has legendaries?" Colby asked.

Mason looked back at her, "Yes, miss. Aurora is the home to the infamous Dragon Trio…"

"You know what that is, right Colby? Sorry, Mason, she arrived from Hecate," Ellis told Mason.

Colby's eyes went wide and when she tried to speak, nothing came out. She snapped her mouth shut, and looked at the ground. So her vision was true…it was all true… She was a bit worried, and a bit fascinated at the same time.

She decided, that she couldn't wait for the next vision. She had so many questions for Faye!

"Yeah…" Colby finally answered.

Ellis and Amanda gave her an odd look, but seemed to think nothing of it. "Well…this isn't really my place to tell you…a-after all, it is the Professor's research, not mine," Mason said.

"Its alright…we can ask him though, right?" Amanda asked.

"Oh yes. I think he would be delighted to answer your questions. He has a great respect for young trainers like you… He to, once started out at the bottom, just like you three," Mason said.

Colby nodded in agreement. The Professor seemed like a pretty good guy, from what Mason said.

"Hey look, everyone! Ft. Jonova is only five miles!" Ellis laughed, pointing to a sign beside the road that gauged miles.

Mason nodded, and Amanda smirked at Ellis.

"To pass the time…I'll tell some jokes!" Ellis exclaimed.

Colby had a bad feeling about this…

"Name a low fat Pokémon…"

Amanda looked confused, "Uh…"

"Butterfree!" Ellis shouted.

Colby sighed; this was going to be along five miles.

* * *

><p><strong>Authors Note: Ha ha XD Butterfree…sorry. Ellis is famous for his horribly bad jokes…so bad, that a character later in the story makes fun of him constantly! Its okay, we still love you Ellis :) Happy reading guys, and leave your comments in a review. That would make me SUPER SUPER HAPPY :P Enjoy!<strong>

**-colbyjackchz**

**OH! Amanda's outfit wasn't quite right in the sixth chapter, so it has been changed. If you are interested in looking, just go ahead :D Thankies!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Hey! Look! I can see Ft. Jonova!" Ellis yelled, from the crest of the hill.

Two hours, and several bad jokes later, they were on the outskirts of Ft. Jonova. Mason stopped on the top of the hill and cleaned his glasses.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Mason agreed.

Amanda nodded her head furiously; "I can't believe we are at the first major city, and gym battle already! It seems like we just left yesterday!"

Colby laughed, it had been a bit longer than yesterday…but it seemed the same way to her to.  
>"The Professor's lab is just over there, see the green topped building?" Mason pointed to the middle of the city somewhere.<p>

Colby's gaze followed his finger, and sure enough she could see the green top of a building poking out.

"I see it," Colby said.

"Yeah, me to," Amanda said.

"Don't forget me three!" Ellis laughed.

A few yards ahead, they could see the Welcome to Ft. Jonova sign…but something was…wrong with it. The blue sign looked like it had been spray-painted over with something…

"Hey…guys, what's wrong with the sign?" Colby asked, gesturing toward the sign. Ellis squinted at it, and they reached the sign. The white lettering of Ft. Jonova was crossed out in black spray paint and Ft. Jo-MAMMA was written in sloppy handwriting.

"What the…?" Ellis asked.

Colby and Amanda bust out laughing, "Well, someone doesn't like this town," Amanda laughed.

"O-oh dear," Mason squeaked, with a smile on his face, "no need to be alarmed children. It's just the local pranksters…"

"Local pranksters?" Ellis reiterated.

"Yes, this group of pranksters that have done various things around the region… No one knows who they are or what they want…but everyone knows them," Mason explained.

Colby gave the sign another look, and shrugged.

"Well, we probably should get going again…it's almost sundown," Ellis pointed out. Mason nodded and they continued on their path, entering Ft. Jo-MAMMA. Colby glanced all around her and saw the huge, silvery buildings that seemed to reach the sky.

It was like Portsburg, only bigger. They set foot on the blacktop roads and passed many people with Pokémon, walking about. The streetlights were just getting ready to come on as dusk began to fall over Ft. Jonova. Buildings enveloped them on both sides, some brick, and some shiny.

To the left, Colby spotted the familiar orange-topped Pokémon Center building. To the left of that, was a Poke Mart, which she needed to stop at before they continued to the next city.

"The Professor's building is right at the end of the road here. Leader Josh's Gym is straight up the main road and to the left, on the corner," Mason said, taking a left on a side street.

"Cool!" Ellis smiled, happy to get the information.

At the end of the short side road, Colby could see a small building with a green-topped dome. The dome had a Poke Ball symbol engraved in white on the top of it. As they neared, the streetlights began to flicker on, and the yellow ball of a sun settled low on the horizon.

The building wasn't as big as it appeared on top of the hill. In fact, it seemed smaller from up close. It was a fairly simple, three story, oval shaped, brick building. There were some concrete stairs with a wooden rail leading up to the oak door. The four climbed the stairs with ease and Mason knocked on the Charizard head knocker. Knock, knock, knock, seemed to echo all throughout the building. They waited for a few seconds until the sound of footsteps answered. Slowly, the door cracked open, spilling light everywhere and a man in his late forties peeked his head out. "P-Professor, I have brought the suitable three," Mason stuttered.

"Oh! It's you Mason!" The man replied.

Upon realizing who was on the other side of the door, the Professor swung it open and ushered them inside. He shut the door and in the light Colby got a full view of him.

He was wearing a white lab coat, like Mason's, and his hair was a tousled, light brown. A bit of stubble was on his chin, but not quite a goatee. His brown eyes were smiling at them brightly as he clapped his hands together.

"Mason! It's great that your back my old friend," the Professor said, shaking Mason's hand firmly.

"Thank you sir. It is good to be back," Mason said with a smile.

The Professor directed his attention, now to them.

"Ah! You are the three that Mason has selected! I'm sure you are sort of confused as to what is going on right now. Let me explain. My name is Professor Daunte Giaden, and I am Aurora's Pokémon Professor. You can just call me Professor Daunte," he said.

"I'm Ellis, this is Amanda, and that's Colby," Ellis introduced.

Just as Professor Daunte was getting ready to say something, the front door came swinging open, and slammed shut again.

"Uncle! Uncl-"

The familiar, fiery red head stopped dead in his tracks as he saw everyone starring at him. Colby about fell over when she saw Riley.

What was _he_ doing here?

It was a rather awkward moment as everyone starred at each other for a few seconds. Professor Daunte seemed to light up as he saw Riley on his doormat. Colby, Amanda, and Ellis exchanged looks of surprise and irritation.

"Riley! So nice of you to drop by, perfect timing. I'd like you to meet these three trainers that Mason found. This is Colby, Ellis, and Amanda-"

"Yeah, we've met," Riley said sternly, with a glare toward Ellis.

Ellis returned the glare, and added a rude hand gesture when Professor Daunte wasn't looking.

"Oh…you have? Well that's great! These are the three that will be helping us on our project-"

"Sure, I'll take the two cupcakes. But the green headed prick can go to-"

Ellis looked like he wanted to kick him extremely hard, and was gritting his teeth in anger.

"Riley! Try and be nicer to them! After all, you three will be traveling together so you can carry out the work needed for the project-"

"Whoa…whoa, whoa. What? No, there is no way I am traveling with _him_," Riley interrupted, pointing at Ellis.

"Professor Daunte…do we have to travel together to carry out the work?" Amanda pleaded.

Riley gave her a small smile, and something that looked like a wink. Colby really wanted to punch this guy…maybe an arm spasm would be a valid excuse?

Professor Daunte looked confused, but shrugged.

"Well…if you don't want to travel together…and the work still gets done, then I suppose not."

Amanda looked relieved, as did Riley. Ellis was expressionless, and still shooting sharp glares at Riley.

"I guess you four already know each other…but this is my nephew Riley," Professor Daunte said.

Riley managed a stern nod, and smiled again at Amanda. She looked like she kind of wanted to go hide somewhere for a very long time.

"Oh! I'm getting sidetracked here! I was telling you three about the project-" Professor Daunte was yet again, interrupted by Riley,

"You were telling _them_ about the project? But, you wouldn't tell me a thing! Why tell them?"

Professor Daunte looked strained, "Riley, I hadn't told them anything before you arrived-"

"But you just said you were telling them!"

Colby really wanted to punch Riley. He seemed like a snot. Who would talk to their uncle like that?

Professor Daunte sighed, "Let's just start from the beginning alright?"

Riley seemed irritated, but didn't object.

"If you kids will follow me, I will tell you more about this project," Professor Daunte said, walking down the back hall, from the main room.

Colby's feet hit tile floor and she glanced around the room with awe. Bookshelves lined the walls, and various lab tables that were scattered, covered with all sorts of instruments.

Professor Daunte proceeded to the back table which was littered with maps of Aurora, instruments, microscopes, books, Poke Balls, and many other things that Colby couldn't even name.

"Surprisingly…the story begins, well, here!"

"It begins on the table?" Riley asked, with a smirk to his voice.

"Riley…please, just try to cooperate," Professor Daunte said with a deep sigh. "Dumbass," Ellis muttered under his breath.

Riley didn't seem to hear, and was poking around on the table.

"Anyways… One day, I was sitting at my desk over there," Professor Daunte said, gesturing towards the large oak desk in the corner, "when I had a sudden idea! I had earlier that day been thinking of all the Pokémon in the Aurora Region, and how many that was. In fact, I didn't know even all the species that were out there yet. So this got me wondering…would there be a way that all the Pokémon could be cataloged and observed? Of course, this seemed like an impossible task…but I thought about the idea for a while. Later, that same night, I had an idea. What if one could catalogue these Pokémon with a device? Nothing had been invented…yet." Professor Daunte walked over to one of the small tables with Mason not far behind.

"I thought over the idea, and tried to come up with a way in which this could be made into reality. After many sleepless nights, and cups of coffee later, the PokeLog was born!" Professor Daunte pulled a little black device off of the table.

It was a single screen, shaped like a triangle, with a type of silver protection coating on it.

"Professor Daunte? Is it kind of like the PokeDex of Johoto and other regions?" Ellis asked.

"Yes, Ellis, it is. It is basically the same design, except I made it a bit more modern," Professor Daunte explained.

Ellis nodded and continued to study the device with wonderment.

"So, what I need you four to do is exactly what the device was built for! I would like you all to bring this with you on your quest around Aurora, and catalogue your journey as you could say…"

Ellis glanced at Colby and Amanda with excitement. They returned the enthusiasm and Colby was already excited to get going! She was surprised that Mason had picked them for this important mission! This hadn't been done before in the Aurora Region, so it would be a first for everyone. They were going to be making history!

"That sounds awesome Professor Daunte! We would be happy to help!" Ellis said, excitedly.

Professor Daunte smiled, and glanced at Riley, "What about you, Riley?"

Riley glared at Ellis, "Yeah, of course I'm in. After all, you asked _me _first."

Colby rolled her eyes at his rudeness, so annoying.

"Great! I knew I could count on you four to help! Good choice, Mason," Professor Daunte congratulated.

"Sure, Professor! I hoped that two weeks of waiting would yield rewards to your liking," Mason answered, grinning.

"If you three will excuse us for about twenty minutes. We have to go attend to a test really quick. Make yourselves comfortable in the living room. Riley…try not to be rude," Professor Daunte said, disappearing with Mason upstairs.

Riley looked annoyed and everyone followed him into the living room. It was simple, with two couches, a coffee table, and a television in the corner. Colby, Amanda, and Ellis sat on one, and Riley on the other. They sat there and faced each other, which was awkward.

"We don't like this any more than you do, but if it's for the good of Pokémon and research then we need to make an effort to get it done for Professor Daunte," Amanda said, directing her sternness to Riley.

Riley laughed and gestured towards the two girls, "I'm fine with you Twix, and Tootsie Pop over there-"

"Tootsie Pop? Twix?" Colby echoed, with an irritated snap behind her voice.

Riley smiled and winked at her, "You are Tootsie Pop, hard on the outside, and mushy on the inside. Amanda is Twix, a soft personality."

Colby about threw up. He was failing so hard at flirting. Amanda looked a bit pained, and seemed to loose all sense of reason.

"The one thing I do have a problem with, is that lettuce thing over there," Riley spat, glaring at Ellis.

Ellis ground his teeth together and stood up, with rage in his eyes. Riley did the same, and they faced each other with a coffee table in between them. Eyes locked and blazing, Riley had a smirk on his face.

"Go ahead, hit me Pothead. I dare you," Riley hissed.

Ellis had a look of confusion and rage on his face at the same time. "Pothead?" He asked.

"Yeah, Pot leaves are green on the top aren't they?" Riley fired back.

After being able to take it no longer, Ellis lunged, but Colby managed to pull him back before he made contact.

"Enough! Ellis, he isn't worth it," Colby said with anger, in between the two.

"I may not be worth his time, but I'm worth every second of yours," Riley said with a smile.

This time Colby was the one to face him, and she wasn't happy.

"Shut up, or I'll make you," She commanded.

"Oh, Tootsie Pop, getting a bit fiery there. You look cute when you're angry," Riley smiled.

"One more word, and your going to wish you were never born," Colby hissed.

Riley had a smug look on his face, and they all sat down again. Finally, after ten minutes of silence, Professor Daunte returned.

"Good to see you didn't kill each other! I'm guessing you three need rooms for the night?" Professor Daunte asked.

"Yes, if you don't mind," Amanda said.

"No problem, just follow me. Riley, you can meet me here bright and early tomorrow morning. Remember what I said about being late!" Riley shrugged, and gave Amanda a last look.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be there, night Twix," he called as he slammed the front door. Amanda shuddered and followed Professor Daunte up the stairs with Colby not far behind her. They all came to the second level, and looked down a hallway both ways.

"At the end of the hall, there are two rooms open. Ellis can have one, Amanda and Colby the other. I will see you three bright and early tomorrow morning! If you have any questions or need anything, just find me, I should be down stairs," Professor Daunte said with a smile, continuing down the stairs.

They called out their thanks and receded to their rooms at the end of the hall with ease.

* * *

><p>"Riley is a real pain," Amanda said, laying the bed.<p>

Colby nodded, lying down on the couch with a sigh.

"I don't think Ellis was very happy with him…" Amanda pointed out the obvious.

"Definitely not," Colby said with a laugh.

"Can you believe that Professor Daunte has given us this important of an assignment?" Amanda asked, awe in her voice.

Colby propped herself up on one elbow, "No, I was shocked. It's going to be so cool though! Getting to see all of those Pokémon species, and at the same time doing research that is valuable to Aurora!"

Amanda nodded, "I know! Think of all the new species we will discover! It's just hard to imagine…"

Colby lay back on her pillow and looked up at the ceiling, thoughts running through her mind about the day.

"We have to battle Josh tomorrow to…wow, so much to contemplate," Colby thought aloud.

"Let's hope that goes well…" Amanda said, sleep starting to fill her voice.

"Night Amanda," Colby muttered, rolling over.

"Night Colby," she responded with a yawn.

Colby turned over and closed her eyes, letting a good nights sleep envelop her.

* * *

><p>Colby closed her PokePages Journal the next morning and stuffed it back in her backpack as Amanda finished in the bathroom.<p>

"Ready to go downstairs?" Amanda asked, grabbing her stuff.

Colby nodded and pushed open the door. They continued down the hall and took the stairs two at a time to the main floor.

"It's about time you two showed up!" Ellis laughed from the couch.

"Wow…he didn't sleep in for once," Amanda said with surprise on her face.

Colby and Amanda sat down beside him.

"Where is Professor Daunte?" Colby asked.

"I don't know, he hasn't been around here since I've been up," Ellis responded.

Colby sighed and leaned back into the cushy couch, tired. Sleeping on a couch wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing…but it was better than the ground. "Good morning everyone! Wouldn't you join me for breakfast?" Professor Daunte said from the doorframe.

Colby jerked awake and finally got up. Breakfast did sound really good at the moment.

They walked down the same hallway to get to the lab, but instead of going all the way down, they turned left into a small dining room. There was a large, wooden table in the middle with chairs surrounding it. Pancakes and bacon, along with eggs were sat in the middle of the table.

"Wow! It looks delicious Professor!" Ellis said, sitting down beside Amanda and Colby. Professor Daunte took a seat at the end of the table and passed around the food.

"Why thank you! To bad Riley couldn't join us…but of course, he is always late-"

"Think again Uncle!" A voice said from the doorframe.

Colby looked up, and there was Riley, wearing his Riachu A Love Song shirt again. That shirt was almost as funny as his face.

"Oh! What a nice surprise Riley! Sit down and have breakfast with us," Professor Daunte said.

To Colby's utter irritation, he grabbed the chair beside her. But at least Ellis wasn't sitting by him…

"Good morning Tootsie Pop," Riley whispered.

"Shut your mouth," Colby retorted, starting to nibble on her food.

"Where are you three from?" Professor Daunte asked, making conversation.

"Well, I'm from Portsburg, Colby is from the Hecate Region, and Ellis lives in Afron Village," Amanda explained, eating some eggs.

Riley snorted beside Colby, "Afron Village, what a joke."

On Colby's other side, Ellis tensed, and stared at his plate in fury.

"Riley…" Professor Daunte sighed, clearly spent with his rudeness.

"What?" He asked, smirking.

"Quit being so rude! These are our guests," Professor Daunte scolded.

"Yeah, whatever," Riley retorted, taking a big bite of pancakes.

"Do you have any Pokémon Colby?" Professor Daunte asked.

"Yeah, actually. I have Nicksy, my…"

Colby stopped, not quite sure what to call him. What was Nicky's species called anyway?

"I have two," she concluded.

"That's great! Already two Pokémon, you seem to be doing well," he congratulated. The rest of breakfast was uninteresting, but at least Riley didn't comment any more. They all finished up and met in the lab again. Professor Daunte passed out PokeLog's to everyone.

Colby turned the small object over in her hands and brushed its smooth screen.

"The way it works is simple. When in a battle, you just hold it up, and it gets the information. Then it displays it on the screen for you to see! I will be checking on your progress once in a while," Professor Daunte explained.

Ellis smiled, "Thanks Professor! We will get to work on our cataloging."

The Professor nodded and gave them a smile.

"Have fun on your journey to explore Aurora. I will be checking in on you soon! Farewell until then, and good luck!" Professor Daute called as they disappeared out the door and into the vast world of Pokémon.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Review to lemme know what you think :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

"It's on the left...just up the street I think is what Mason said," Amanda told them.

The three, finally free of Riley, were heading towards Leader Josh's gym with their Pokemon in backpacks.

"Yeah…oh! There it is!" Ellis said excitedly, pointing to a black building at the corner of the road.

Colby looked to where he was pointing and saw the black building. It was a simple round building, fairly large, and had a sign in green letters that said **Ft. Jonova Psychic Gym** out in front.

Colby also noticed to the right of the gym, was a daycare center of some type. The daycare was a cute little house shaped building with a playground out to the side. This playground happened to be bordering the gym on one side. As they came to the entrance, Colby noticed that a few kindergarteners were playing outside.

As soon as they notice them, the kids came running with huge smiles on their faces.

"Welcome to Jawshes Jym! Jawshes Jym! Welcome! Welcome to Jawshes Jym! We love Jawsh! Jawsh!" They all screamed.

Colby looked at Ellis and Amanda, who bust out laughing.

"Josh must be pretty popular with the children," Ellis said through laughter.

"Let's go in before they start singing or something…" Amanda said with wide eyes. Colby laughed and followed the two inside, breathing in the cool air greedily. As they stepped through the doors, they entered a small entrance room that had paintings of psychic type Pokémon on the walls.

To Colby's utter confusion, a huge Guns 'N' Roses poster occupied the far back wall. That was particularly odd…

"Challengers I suppose?" A voice spoke from the room.

A guy came walking thorough the back, open, doorway and was looking at them. Colby recognized the black and green cloak from the photo.

"Leader Josh?" Colby asked.

The guy just looked at her, "Yeah…none other than."

Colby was really dulled by his lack of enthusiasm; it was kind of annoying in a way.

"We are challengers," Ellis said, narrowing his eyes.

Josh gave Ellis a once over and seemed to instantly not like him. Colby looked at Amanda, who also seemed to notice the instant dislike radiating from the two.

"Challengers," Josh said with a laugh, mocking them.

"You don't think we can beat you?" Ellis growled.

Josh narrowed his eyes, "Well, there is only one way to settle this isn't there? Follow me."

Leader Josh walked back through the doorway and straight into an elevator. They just stood there with awe as Josh walked into the elevator.

He gave them a weird look, "Well what the hell are you just standing there for? Get in!"

Colby rolled her eyes and got in with the rest of the crew. The elevator gave a huge lurch, which sent Ellis crashing into Josh.

Josh's eyes were ablaze as he shoved Ellis off him. Ellis looked like he wanted to murder him, and turned the other way as the elevator went up. After a few seconds, it came to a halt and they all piled out.

Josh continued down a hallway and as they kept going farther, it seemed to be getting darker. Barely able to see Josh in the dark, Colby stumbled along blindly. "Leader Josh?" Colby called into the dark.

She felt someone step on her foot, "Sorry," Ellis muttered.

"Leader Josh?" Amanda called again.

Colby was almost beginning to panic when the lights flipped back on, and they appeared in a huge room. Colby was amazed by what she saw; it was like being in a huge arena, but only with no fans. Colby looked across the field, past the Poke Ball in the center, and saw Leader Josh poised for battle on the other line.

"Who's first?" He called, echoing over the area about the size of a football field. The three looked between each other and Josh. Who was going first?

"Who wants to battle him first?" Amanda asked.

Ellis sighed, "I'll battle."

Colby looked between Josh and Ellis, then nodded. Ellis stepped up to the line and got Emmera's Poke Ball out, turning it over in his hands, starring Josh down. Josh flipped his hair and snapped his fingers, in which a Mr. Mime immediately appeared at his side. He whispered something to the Mr. Mime and it lined up in front of him in the field.

"You two," Josh said, pointing at Colby and Amanda, "back in the hallway."

Colby was confused, but backed into the hallway with Amanda.

"What-"

"This isn't a double battle, so unless you're one of _his _Pokémon, then scram!" Josh yelled from the other side of the room.

Colby glared at him and backed into the hallway, where the door came slamming shut.

"That is…weird," Amanda said with wide eyes.

Colby wasn't surprised by Josh's irritated attitude…but it was really annoying. She couldn't even imagine how Ellis was coping, being all positive. Colby wasn't the peppiest person in the world, but she was trying to get better.

"Yeah, I guess the battles are a secret or something," Colby said irritably.

"Gosh, I just hope they aren't fighting or something…because it seems so far, Ellis has made more enemies than friends. With Riley and Josh put together…" Amanda trailed off.

Colby nodded, that was very true. For the next ten minutes, they stood there and chatted, waiting. Colby was mildly curios as to what was going on. Amanda seemed jittery and turned Zero's Poke Ball over in her hand nervously.

"Don't be nervous, you've got this," Colby assured her.

Amanda looked up and smiled, "Thanks…I just hope we can beat him."

Colby smiled back, "You're a great trainer and I know you will win."

Just as she finished saying that, Colby heard something through an intercom in the corner. They starred at the little box as they heard Ellis and Josh talking. "Ha ha! I beat you. In your face!" Ellis yelled.

"Do you want to die? If so, keep talking," Josh yelled back.

"Oh, by the way, Guns 'N' Roses makes Rebecca Black seem halfway decent," Ellis, yelled.

Colby heard the door open, and Ellis stormed in, hair wild. Josh was right on his heels, eyes blazing.

"You take that back! Right now," He yelled, pushing Ellis against a wall.

Ellis, being the same height as Josh, starred him down.

"Oh yeah, I sure will" Ellis said sarcastically.

"Take. It. Back," Josh hissed, hand tensed for socking.

"Stop it!" Colby screamed, pushing them both into a wall.

Josh looked surprised, and regained his composure.

"What are you doing? Josh! You're a gym leader! You are supposed to have control, leadership, and compassion for the challenger!" Colby yelled.

Josh looked at the floor, and Colby felt like a mother reprimanding naughty children. Amanda was standing in the corner, eyes wide, and not knowing what to think. Josh finally looked up, and starred Colby down with piercing eyes.

"I don't need your help. Now if you want to battle, move," Josh growled, pushing past Colby, cloak flying.

Colby gave Ellis the evil eye, and followed Josh through the door. It slammed closed behind her, and she sighed.

Josh was at the other end of the field, holding his Poke Ball, and starring her down. Colby got out Nicky's Poke Ball, and dropped Mara's back into the backpack. She had made some progress with Mara during their training day…but not enough yet to put Mara in battle. "

Go Nicksy!" Colby called, throwing the Poke Ball in mid air.

It cracked open and Nicksy sprung out, ready for battle.

"Murr!" He mewed as his feet hit the ground.

"Mr. Mime, lets go," said Josh, matching Colby's parabola Poke Ball arc.

Mr. Mime appeared and Nicksy face him, with determination in his brown eyes.

"Mime, Mime," Mr. Mime said, looking to Josh for instruction.

"Ready for this?" Colby called to Josh.

Josh looked between Colby and Nicksy, and then nodded. Glancing at Mr. Mime, they both struck an interesting pose. Like the one in the picture, they got back to back and crossed their arms.

"I'm all into it! With the intuition and all, dawg," Josh said in a gangster voice.

He instantly snapped back into his cold state, and starred at her like nothing just happened. Colby was utterly confused…what did just happen? Colby rolled her eyes and was ready to begin the battle.

"Nicksy, shadow ball!" Colby yelled, beginning the first gym battle of her life.

A black and purple sphere formed at Nicky's mouth, and then went hurtling at Mr. Mime.

"Dodge, then confusion," Josh said nonchalantly.

He seemed so relaxed, that Colby wouldn't be surprised if he could paint his nails while battling, and still win. That is...if he was a girl. Mr. Mime did as it was told, easily dodging Nicky's shadow ball.

A ball of light formed at Mr. Mime's center of head, and came sailing at Nicksy.

"Em-" Colby couldn't get out the move, when the confusion hit Nicksy head on.

He staggered back and forth, with surprised, wide eyes.

"Shake it off Nic!" Colby called assuring.

Nicksy shook his head back and forth, then finally regained control.

"Ember!"

"Slap that bitch!" Josh called to Mr. Mime.

Colby gave Josh a look of death, when flames exploded out of Nicksy's mouth. Mr. Mime, got a bit toasty, but fought around the intense flames, and smacked Nicksy two times with double slap.

Nicksy, in response, bit him. Mr. Mime let out a cry, and got burnt again. "Mime! Meditate, quickly," Josh called, irritated at Mr. Mime.

Colby cheered in her head, and was happy that Nic had learned bite! Perfect timing to! As Mr. Mime quickly executed the meditate, Nicksy threw ember at him. "Mr. Mime, get back, go Abra!" Josh yelled, throwing out Abra's Poke Ball.

"A-Abra," he sniffed, briefly confused as to where he was.

"Nic, shadow ball!"

Nicksy conjured the sphere of darkness once again, and shot it towards the Abra.

"Teleport," Josh shouted.

The shadow ball missed Abra by a hair as he teleported out, and Mr. Mime once again had the field. Josh was tougher than he looked!

"Come on Nic! Quick attack!"

Mr. Mime was once again re called, and the maneuver was executed again. After one more long time of the dance, Nicksy landed a shadow ball to Mr. Mime's solar plex.

He jerked back, absorbing the blow and landing with a thump. Mr. Mime looked dazed, and tired.

"Come on Mr. Mime! You can do it!" Josh yelled.

"Mi…Mime," Mr. Mime said, blacking out.

Josh looked frustrated and called Mr. Mime back. "Abra…it's up to you…we have no chance because you only know teleport…but what ever," Josh grumbled. "Lets finish this Nicksy!" Colby said, assumingly.

Panting, Nicksy turned around and gave her a comforting look.

"Finish him with quick attack!"

Nicksy got into formation and bounded towards the Abra at full speed. At this moment, it was as if time slowed down in slow motion. Nicksy leapt and collided with the Abra head on.

Nicksy landed repeated blows and Abra seemed to be exhausted from all the teleporting. As Abra fell, Josh seemed to be defeated and recalled the feinted Pokémon. For a moment, all was silent and Josh was looking at the ground. They met eyes and Colby could tell he was defeated.

She had won her first gym battle!

"Murr…" Nicksy murmured, exhausted from the heat of battle.

"Great job Nicksy! Get some well deserved rest!" Colby smiled, recalling him into the little red and white ball.

"Congratulations, you have beat me. Here is your first badge, the Psychic Badge," Josh said with his normal, unenthusiastic voice.

He dropped a little silver pin in her hand, shaped like an eye. Colby turned it over in her hand, in awe.

"Now make like pants, and split," Josh said, gesturing toward the door.

Colby just looked at him, but shrugged and shuffled out of the gym. Amanda replaced her in the gym and Colby sent her luck.

* * *

><p>Still in daze from the battle, she found herself in the hall with Ellis. Looking at the time, she realized that the battle had only lasted a mere ten minutes. It had seemed like months though!<p>

"How was it?" Ellis asked, calmer than when he and Josh were fighting.

"It was…interesting…but at least I got this!" Colby said, showing him the badge. Ellis smiled, and pulled out the same badge.

Colby returned the smile, and leaned against the wall to close her eyes. She was tired after the long battle, and the eventfulness of the last few days had worn her plum out.

After a few minutes of drifting in and out of consciousness, Colby heard the door whoosh open.

"I won guys! I can't believe it!" Amanda said excitedly, showing them the silvery badge.

"Congratulations Amanda! I told you everything would be alright!" Colby smiled. "Thanks! I'm sure you were awesome to!" Amanda gushed.

"So, you three have beaten me. Congratulations. Now, if you would ever be so kind, I will show you to the door. I have a headache, and need to go meditate or some shit like that," Josh said, rubbing his eyes.

The three exchanged looks, and filed out.

"Got to go meditate your troubles away do you?" Ellis mocked.

Josh looked up at him, with anger bubbling up.

"Alright plant brain. I'm not in the mood to be messed with. Either you stop this right now, or I'm going to make you. Is that clear?" Ellis snorted and kept walking, not really in the mood for a fight.

Josh seemed to be smoking from the front of the line, and lead them to the main room with the Guns 'N' Roses poster. They continued out the door, when suddenly Josh exploded.

"What the hell is this? What did you do to my sign?" Josh yelled, gesturing madly toward his Ft. Jonova Psychic Gym sign.

The sign, once black with green lettering, was now colored pink with black lettering. It read, "Welcome to Jawshes Jym" with a whole bunch of smiley faces done in chalk. Josh glanced at the kindergarteners who now saw him, and were coming running.

"Jawsh! Jawsh! It's Jawsh everyone! Jawsh!"

Josh looked like he wanted to explode as the kids raced towards him.

"Like your new sign Jawsh? We made it pretty!" One little girl explained.

Something inside Josh snapped, and everything seemed to go down hill from there.

"This is it! I can't take this anymore! I am out of here!"

Josh pushed some of the kids over and disappeared inside the gym. Five minutes later, he came back out and pushed around the kids again.

"Adios bitches," he called, walking away.

Colby, Ellis and Amanda caught up with him at the end of the street. He was carrying a bag and was walking head held high.

"What are you doing? Where are you going?" Amanda asked, worried.

"After two years of that, I can take it no longer. Screw the gym, I'm going with you guys," he stated blankly.

"Whoa…uh," Ellis stopped, not to happy with the idea.

"If you have a problem with it, then get over it. I am done dealing with those kids. I don't care how much they love me. I don't love them back," Josh huffed.

They continued to walk on, and Colby spotted a Pokémon Center up the road. "I'm going to heal Nicksy," Colby said.

Ellis and Amanda nodded, following her. Josh seemed to tag along to, evidently becoming the newest edition of our party.

"Uh, Josh…how are people going to get the Psychic Badge now?" Amanda asked.

"Hell if I know. Nor do I care anymore," Josh snorted.

Colby sighed and entered the Pokémon Center with the others right behind. Walking up to the counter, everyone put their Pokémon down, and the nurse healed them without a word.

Exiting, they made their way to the main road out of town, Route C.

"So… you are actually going to join us?" Colby asked, not to thrilled with the idea herself.

Josh looked at her, "No, I'm kidding. Yeah, to my dislike, I'm going with you."

Colby rolled her eyes and focused on the busy road ahead. People passed, not giving them a second glance and Colby could see past the big building, open forest ahead.

She ran through the day's events in her head, and was still shocked that she won her first gym battle. The first badge was won! She was so proud of Nicksy and herself for making it this far in the first place!

"Where are you from?" Josh asked, hands in cloak pockets.

"I'm from Portsburg, Ellis from Afron Village and Colby from Hecate Region," Amanda explained.

Josh wrinkled his nose at the mention of Afron Village…Colby had a bad feeling about this.

"Afron Village? Oh, so that's the name of that booger that the map makers sneezed out after all is it?" Josh said, glaring at Ellis.

"What do you have against Afron Village?"

"What do you think? Something of yours equals something I hate. They complete each other," Josh smirked.

"At least I'm not…a city…slicker," Ellis said, fumbling for words.

Colby looked at Amanda, who shrugged. For the next half hour, they jabbed insults at each other, all the while Amanda and Colby got more irritated.

"Guys, please!" Amanda pleaded, as they exited the city.

They shut up, but in response, continued a fierce glare battle. Just when Colby thought the shenanigans were over, and peace was upon them. Their least favorite person showed up.

A bought of flaming red hair stepped out from behind a tree, wearing a cheesy Riachu shirt and a smug smile.

"Well, well, well, look what cupid's arrow shot. It's none other than Twix and Tootsie Pop. Nice to see my two favorite cupcakes again," Riley said, winking at the girls. Colby sighed deeply and Amanda looked uncomfortable. Josh looked confused, and Ellis was wearing his look of fury.

"You know ladies…our fates must be more intertwined than I suspected, considering we are reunited again so soon," Riley cooed, grabbing Amanda's hand and getting down on one knee.

Josh looked between the two, and seemed disturbed. Riley let go and stood up, looking between Josh and Ellis. His smug smirk returned as he gave Josh a once over.

"So, Pothead got himself a boyfriend did he?"

Colby's eyes got wide…Riley didn't know who he was messing with…Josh would cook him for dinner. Ellis looked disgusted, and didn't quite know if he hated Josh or Riley more. That would be a difficult decision!

"Who the hell is this bitch?" Josh shouted, eyes blazing.

Riley smirked and seemed to be fueled by Josh's rage.

"I, am none other than these two amazing women's date," Riley smiled, winking at the girls.

"Yeah, when hell freezes over," Colby hissed, not wanting any part of this.

Josh looked deadly, and seemed ready to beat Riley's brains out. Just as Josh was about to tell him off, Riley's pocket started to play the Pokémon theme song. It was an awkward as he struggled to get his pocket open, and produced a MID. Putting it to his ear, he muttered a hello.

"What? Mom…yeah…Mom! Yeah, I packed clean underwear! Sure, bye," Riley turned a bit pink but quickly hardened again.

"Mommy thinks you forgot your underwear, Tomato?" Ellis taunted, amusement in his eyes.

"Shut the hell up, Pothead. I've got better things to do than talk to you losers. See you later girls," Riley waved, disappearing into the trees.

Colby sighed and looked at the pale Amanda, who looked really psychologically damaged from these unpleasant experiences.

"That guy, is a real jack wagon," Josh growled, "I may hate him more than I hate Ellis."

Colby rolled her eyes and kept walking towards the forest with Amanda right beside her. The two guys behind them, once again went at it with insults. This was going to be a long journey, Colby could just tell.

* * *

><p>After about twenty minutes of arguing, Colby was about ready to die. They had made it well past Ft. Jonova and the sun seemed to be sinking down low on the horizon. The lights of Ft. Jonova were visible in the distance, and golden rays of sunshine illuminated the buildings.<p>

"How about another joke?" Ellis called; clearly wanting to light the negative mood those two were creating.

"Oh God," Josh groaned, knowing that what ever was coming, was bad.

"Whatever," Colby shrugged.

"As long as I don't melt with cheesiness," Amanda sighed.

With Ellis and his jokes, that was impossible.

"Alright, why did the girl at the shop pick Mew instead of MewTwo?"

Colby shrugged, and didn't really want to know the actual answer.

"One Mew is enough to take care of, but two? That is ridiculous!" Ellis laughed. Everyone was silent, and stopped just to look at Ellis.

"What?" He asked, amusement in his eyes.

"Is your name Maple Syrup?" Josh asked.

Ellis looked confused, "What? No."

"Well it damn well should be you sap!" Josh yelled, not amused by the terrible joke. Ellis looked sad that everyone had rejected his joke, and kept walking on into the cool night of the beautiful Aurora Region.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: :) Hopefully you enjoyed that chapter! Josh is a real character isn't he? XD Darn those pranksters, and let's not forget, the kindergarteners of doom! Ha ha, enjoy guys, and comment with reviews!<strong>

**-colbyjackchz**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

The next morning, Colby awoke to the sound of chirping Pidgey's which was nice. She looked over at Amanda and Ellis whose sleeping bags were by the tree that they decided to crash under. Eventually, the party had walked until the darkness was setting in and Ellis's twenty-twenty couldn't even see them through this darkness.

The two had stopped fighting eventually which was music to Colby's ears. Glancing over at the opposite side of the tree (where Josh had crashed because he refused to sleep anywhere near them) and found an empty sleeping bag.

Puzzled, Colby propped herself up on one elbow and looked around. Nothing but forest was there for miles around. She heaved herself out of the sleeping bag, and felt the cool grass on her bare feet. What if Josh had ditched them? At least he hadn't murdered Ellis in his sleep…which was good news.

Colby pulled on her shoes and looked all around again, still no one. The only sign of life was a small Caterpie munching on some leaves close to Amanda's sleeping bag.

"Hey, Blondie, up here," a voice said from above.

She looked up in the tree above her head, and saw Josh sitting on one of the tree branches, looking at her. Colby glanced at the tree…how had he gotten up there?

"What are you doing up there?" Colby called.

Josh shrugged, "So, I like to climb tree's I guess? I don't know."

"Okay then…"

A breeze blew and ruffled Colby's hair some. She was now watching the Caterpie with interest…that was now sitting on Amanda's sleeping form. Colby had a bad feeling about this…

"Why did you decide to be a gym leader?" She asked.

There was silence for a moment and Josh cleared his throat, "I just needed something to do. Not the best job in the world…but it was ok. Until those kids starting to mess everything up. I don't take crap off of anyone, and I was fed up. So, I say, screw it."

"Hm...Well, you could try to be a bit nicer to the world…including Ellis-"

"I told you. I don't take crap off of people, and your little Watermelon head friend started it-"

"I don't care!" Colby yelled, "I didn't exactly have the best attitude or life either before I came here. But unlike you, I decided to make a change for the better! I decided to live! There was no point in dwelling on the past, because what's done is done…Yeah, I was a jerk to everyone, but now I found some friends that care and make it worth while. We could be that for you to, but you won't let us," Colby finished, eyes blazing.

Josh just sat there in silence, starring her down.

"No. I am the way I am, and if you have a problem with it then-" Josh was interrupted by a scream.

Colby whipped around to see Amanda with huge eyes, looking at the Caterpie. Ellis jerked awake as he heard Amanda screaming.

"Get it off! Get it off!" She yelled madly, ripping out of the sleeping bag.

The Caterpie looked startled and fell off of Amanda, squirming on the ground. Amanda ran behind the tree and was breathing heavily, looking at the Caterpie in fear.

"Scared of bugs much?" Ellis laughed, petting the Caterpie lightly on the head. "I. Hate. Bugs," Amanda whispered.

Colby bust out laughing and gave Amanda a hug of reassurance, "its okay Amanda."

Amanda still looked startled, but nodded. Josh landed smoothly with a thump beside Colby and rolled his eyes at Amanda.

"It's just a Caterpie," he said.

"Everyone has a fear, even you, so you can shut up," Ellis snapped.

Josh turned to face him and shot a glare in his direction.

"Don't piss me off today. I am running out of places to hide bodies," Josh retorted.

Ellis snorted and started to pack up his things. With in an hour, everyone had eaten and they were on the road again. Colby looked all around her at the lush forest, teeming with Pokémon of all species and kinds. A flock of Pidgey flew overhead, a Bellsprout gazed at them from behind a tree, and a Mankey's eyes were visible from a tall tree.

"Wow…just look at all the Pokémon! There are so many kinds," Colby said in awe, spotting more.

"I know! Hey! Maybe we should log some of them," Amanda said, pulling out her PokeLog.

"What is that?" Josh asked, not impressed by the triangle shaped gadget.

"It's a PokeLog! We are on a mission for Professor Daunte, the Pokémon Professor of Aurora…along with Riley," Amanda said with regret in the last statement.

"Oh, that's the dumbass's name?" Josh asked.

"Yeah…" Colby finished, not wanting to talk about him.

"Anyways, we are trying to log the Pokémon in this region the best we can for Professor Daunte. That's why I was holding up this while we battled, because I was recording data," Amanda explained.

Josh still didn't look impressed, and sighed.

"Can we hurry up here?"

Colby rolled her eyes, "Have patience gym leader."

Josh shot her a look of death, and muttered some rude insults under his breath. Amanda held up the black triangle and watched as it came alive. A blue bar registered on the screen as it took a picture of the Bellsprout and turned green.

The screen changed again, to a white screen with Bellsprout's picture, name, weight, height, and many other things. A green check mark appeared in a box in the corner, and Amanda quickly logged a few more.

"Okay! Done!" She said after a few minutes.

"Let's get out of here," Josh said succinctly, beginning to walk down the path.

Colby grabbed her bag and fell in step beside Ellis and Amanda. Josh was taking the lead, cloak whipping in the breeze, and head held high.

"So…where exactly are we going now? I mean, what is the next city?" Ellis asked.

"Sanville dumbass," Josh yelled from the front of the line.

Ellis rolled his eyes and muttered some words underneath his breath. Amanda pulled her Unknown cap over her head, and said nothing.

"Well, where is Sanville on the map?" Colby asked.

Ellis stopped and pulled out the map from his knapsack. Colby watched Josh walk on further…good riddance. She really didn't have patience for arrogant people.

"What the hell is the problem now? Does Snot Brain need to tie his shoe?" Josh yelled, fuming from the a few yard's away.

"Josh, we had to stop because I wanted to see things from your point of view for once. But I can't get my head that far up my ass," Ellis retorted, looking down at the map again.

Josh about turned purple with rage, but for once he didn't say anything. Colby got a good look at the map and located Sanville. Nodding to Ellis, and giving Josh a sharp glare, they were off again.

* * *

><p>For the rest of the afternoon, they continued through the dense forest. Every once and a while they stopped to log some Pokémon (to Josh's dismay at having to stop every five minutes). Ellis and Josh continued to jab their usual insults at each other, leaving Colby and Amanda in the middle of it all.<p>

As the sun began to fade into the distance, they were almost out of the forest. Or…at least it seemed to be clearing. The map that Ellis had didn't exactly include topography as a bonus feature. Colby sat her pack next to a tree and plopped down next to Amanda with a sigh.

Ellis and Josh were busy glaring at each other, as usual. Ellis sat down beside Amanda, and Josh just stood there.

"I refuse to set by him," Josh huffed, sitting across from them with a curl to his lip.

Amanda looked pained, and as usual was quiet as the rant began for the night. Colby ran her hands through her hair and tried not to explode. She would _love_ to wring both their scrawny necks and smack their heads together! Why did they have to fight all the time?

"Well I don't want you sitting by me in the first place," Ellis said with a scowl to the ground.

"Guys…seriously, why do you always have to fight all the time? Amanda and I are sick of it! There is no reason for it," Colby interrupted.

Ellis shrugged and Josh snorted, turning away. There really was no hope. Colby rolled her eyes and unpacked the sleeping bag. She was ready for a good night's sleep. Lying down on the squishy sleeping bag, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to overcome her…

* * *

><p><em>Colby opened her eyes to the familiar smell of salt water filling her nostrils. Noticing, like last time, she was on her back lying in the sweet grass of the plateau. <em>

"_Welcome back, child," a familiar voice said from above her. _

_Colby sat up and saw Faye standing there, blue hair radiating. Standing up, Colby greeted her with a smile, and took notice of Dialga who was to Faye's left. Colby nodded to the beast, but was careful to avoid his eyes until told to do so. She knew what would happen if she met his eyes… _

"_Are you ready for the next chapter of the story?" Faye asked, her green eyes glowing. _

_Colby took in another deep breath of the salty ocean air and nodded. "Good," Faye said, "I have much to show you today." _

_A breeze blew Colby's hair as she floated above the ground like last time, waiting for Faye's command. Faye did her mind thing with Dialga again and she motioned to Colby with her hand. _

"_Lift your eyes child, and we will proceed through the story. The story of time itself…" _

_Colby obeyed and slowly lifted her eyes to meet Dialga's ones of diamond. Rainbow colors flashed everywhere like last time, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly. Her stomach dipped as that feeling of weightlessness consumed her. Willing it to be over soon, Colby felt her hair blow back, and knew it was almost over. The feeling subsided as she came to a halt, which greatly relieved her. _

"_Open your eyes," Faye's inhumanly voice echoed through Dialga. _

_Colby did just that and was stunned by what she saw. It was like seeing a giant Gastly…well, not really. The colorings were the same… A deep purple and black haze stretched for as far as the eyes could see and nothing seemed present besides space. _

"_Are we…?" Colby trailed off. _

"_Yes child. What you are looking at is the Distortion World. This is the realm in which Arceus banished Giratina. Have a look around child. Truly see the Torn World for what it is," Faye said. _

_Colby did a three sixty and saw lumps of trees on floating islands. They looked as if they had been uprooted, with roots dangling down in the blackness. These islands were at seemingly awkward angles. Some were sideways, tilted, backwards, and even upside down. _

"_This realm is one of no rules. Gravity doesn't rule this world and breaks the laws of physics. The only Pokémon who can call this world home, is Giratina," Faye narrated. _

_Colby seemed to speed through years and millenniums of time, seeing islands flying by her. At least this type of travel didn't seem to make her sick, like getting here in the first place. A purple and black haze sort of like fog slowly rolled in, covering her forward vision. _

"_Not all things in the universe can stay in balance. For some reason, one day it all broke in half. The barriers between the Distortion world and your dimension were, as you could say, torn," Faye said. _

_As she was narrating, the fog seemed to swirl around her in a cyclonic way, with Colby in the middle. The haze seemed to show what was happening. It was like watching a movie in a complete circle…only the fog was seemingly imprinted upon by the images. _

_Colby saw the barriers break, and heard the piercing sound crack throughout Aurora. Luckily, this was in a time hundreds of years before anyone besides the few natives came to the region. Darkness seemed to explode from the sky, making literally a rip between the two dimensions. _

_The sun slowly eclipsed, and the expanding darkness burst from the tear in shockwaves into the clear blue sky. _

"_Why did the dimensions tear?" Colby asked. _

"_This was at the same time as The Great Battle, child. You will see that in a moment. The Dragon Trio was restless, due to the strife that was occurring in Aurora due to the Stellar Spirits of the stars. Dialga and Palkia were agitated due to Giratina, through their bond, who was eager to make intervene in the fierce fighting. His natural need for conflict driving him, Giratina somehow conjured up enough energy to do the unthinkable. This hadn't been done in millions of years… The last time, the dimensions were merged at creation… Giratina was going to merge the worlds. Giratina was going to break free of his bastille," Faye explained in her haunting voice. _

_Colby saw Dialga and Palkia in their dimensions, restless and angry. Giratina then appeared in his own realm and which Colby was floating in. The Distortion World seemed to be in disaster through the scene in the cyclonic fog. Islands were flying everywhere…and also seemed to be spinning in a whirlwind formation around an unseen entity. _

_Then Colby saw, through the spinning mass of islands, the eyes. Colby flinched at the piercing, demonic, and immortal gaze of Giratina, who was looking straight at her. It seemed as if then, time just stopped. The islands came to a halt, for a good ten seconds. The darkness stopped swirling and the Distortion World fell silent. _

_At that instant, the most lamentable sound Colby's ears had ever been bestowed upon pillaged the Torn World. Giratina's screech seemed to rip a hole in the dimensions and a tear of light was visible through the normal purplish haze. As if pressure was released, all at once the islands pulsed outward from Giratina and stuck back in their regular places. _

_Almost instantly, Giratina darted to the rift in one inhumanly fast motion. Getting a look at the rip, as it began to slowly widen, Colby realized with horror that she was looking down on Aurora. Just for a second it seemed as if her vision had gone blotchy with white dots. _

"_Faye, what…?" Colby called, squeezing her eyes shut. _

_Colby heard some heavy breathing from the voice. _

"_Sorry, child…not much time left for this vision. I am weakening," Faye said shakily. _

_Colby's vision returned to normal and she once again was looking at Aurora from the tear. What did bother her…was what was going on with Faye. What did she mean she was weakening? _

"_Child…You must learn this…don't fret over me. This here…your knowledge…is going to be needed in the very near future," Faye said. _

_Colby shifted the thoughts of Faye out of her mind and paid attention to the new picture on the fog imprint. _

"_The Great Battle was raging between Scar and I. Neither of us was weakening, and it seemed as if the duel would last forever. Bursts of our power were thrown at each other, and shot back again. It was only causing destruction to Aurora." _

_Colby watched the battle unfold in front of her eyes. Lights of all colors were everywhere and two figures battled it out in a valley. Destruction was everywhere…mammoth rocks were busted like little stones, and trees were snapped like twigs. _

"_After fighting for a day straight…I decided to try and finish it. Depleting most of my energy, I conjured a ray, shooting it at Scar. Little did I know, he did the same. Our rays fought for dominance…and a ball of energy began to form. We both knew this wasn't going to end well…but it was a duel for the death. It was for the fate of the universe, dark or light. It could take it no longer, and a huge explosion racked Aurora." _

_Colby gazed at the screen, seeing all this happen and wincing at the explosion, which also assisted in eclipsing the sun. _

"_At this moment, Scar fled and I returned to the stars until now. We were both weak from the battle, and really condemned for burning out of fuel as you could say. The Dragon Trio, still restless, began their rampage. Giratina had successfully broken the barriers between the worlds. Dialga and Palkia fled from their worlds, teleporting down to Aurora in the same spot where The Great Battle had just taken place. Watching this from above…I knew it wasn't going to turn out well. But being in a weakened state, I could do nothing. _

"_Dialga and Palkia faced Giratina as he made the transformation from one world to the next with another screech. They then all met, for the first time since creation, and not in the happiest of ways. A battle then began there…but this was one of the dimensions. Giratina wanted to be joined, and dark. Dialga and Palkia couldn't let that happen. So the battle raged, for days. Each day, more of Aurora was destroyed. Finally, after realizing he wasn't going to win this time, Giratina retreated to the site of The Great Battle. Letting out one final screech, he stomped on the ground with his front foot, causing a massive earthquake to wrack Aurora. This was how the claws were formed." _

_Colby watched in awe as this all played out, and saw the split of the land. She couldn't believe all of this…it was just amazing. There were no words to describe it. _

"_With a final push, they each shot their best attack at each other, similarly to The Great Battle, forming an orb of energy. The darkness seemed to rule over this, but like the other battle, it snapped. The ruin of Aysgarth, the city neighboring and now housing the Elite, was surrounded in Giratina's darkness. This power had broken, and each member of the Dragon Trio was shot back to their own dimension and sadly, Giratina with the ruins of Aysgarth." _

_The rotating fog seemed to clear and Colby's mouth almost dropped open as to what she saw. The ruins of Aysgarth were floating…right in front of her. It seemed as if everything was old, destroyed, and in pieces. Pieces of jumbled rock stood as brick houses, and brick roads were ruined. _

"_The rift between the dimensions was closed, and Aurora was left in shambles. Eventually, everything would go back to normal, as in your time. Close your eyes, child," Faye said. _

_Colby obeyed and felt the normal rush which made her stomach do flip flops. Solid ground touched her feet for a moment, and then she returned to her floating state. _

_Opening her eyes, she saw Faye. She was more transparent than last time, and sweat was forming on her brow. She was breathing heavy, and seemed exhausted. _

"_What is wrong?" Colby asked, really concerned. _

"_I-I don't have enough energy to support this vision any longer. I'm sorry…next time. I will see you soon, and be careful Colby," Faye said, giving her one last look. _

_Colby opened her mouth to say something, but she was already starting to rise above them, and fade. _

"_Goodbye," Colby whispered, fading into darkness once again…_

* * *

><p>The next morning Colby awoke to Ellis saying something.<p>

"Colby…are you okay?"

Colby's eyes fluttered open and she saw everyone looking over her with concern. Sitting up slowly, she blinked the sleep from her eyes and nodded. "Yeah…just a bad dream," she lied, still reluctant to tell them about the vision. "Are you sure…? You were tossing and writhing…" Ellis said.

Colby looked at Amanda, who nodded, seeming to remember the conversation from before about her parents.

"Yeah, honestly Ellis, I'm fine," Colby assured him, trying to put a smile on her face.

Ellis looked a bit confused and worried, but nod. Josh was still looking at her, with a not convinced look on his face. But then again, that one was peculiar to start with.

"Worried about your girlfriend Ellis?" Josh sneered.

Ellis stiffened and turned around and pushed Josh the slightest.

"I _have_ a girlfriend, she lives in Ravenholm. Her name is Janica-"

"Oh yeah? Well I have a girlfriend named Karma, and she's a bitch," Josh said calmly.

Ellis looked confused for a second, and was even more confused when he found himself pushed to the ground. Josh fixed his collar on his cloak and started to pack up his stuff, smooth as ever. Amanda rolled her eyes and helped Ellis up, who seemed to be on fire.

"Ellis, don't. It's not worth it, seriously," Colby said in a warning voice.

"Someday…someday," Ellis muttered, packing up his stuff to.

Colby followed the other's lead and bundled up her sleeping bag. Suddenly she heard a crack from behind her, and saw Amanda holding her backpack with wide eyes.

"Guys! The egg! It's hatching!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: I am SO SORRY that I haven't been posting new chapters that frequently guys! I got really busy with school and stuff, plus my main computer which this was mainly typed on went capoosh and I got sick :(. So you know how that stuff goes. Since its summer now, hopefully I will be able to post more frequently with this other computer. Well, sorry again guys! I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter…and hopefully it made some sort of sense ;) Until next time my awesome readers! Bless your faces and comment in reviews!<br>**

**-colbyjackchz**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

At just the mention of the egg hatching, Colby and Ellis crowded around Amanda, who was setting the egg down on her sleeping bag. Josh looked completely confused, but as soon as he saw the gleaming white shell of the egg, commenced huddling around Amanda's sleeping bag.

Josh though was careful not to get to close to Ellis, which to his dismay (clearly said by the curl of his lip) was sitting to the left of him. Colby sat on the grass beside Amanda, who was eagerly watching the egg as it proceeded to hatch.

Tiny cracks started to appear over the marble white colored shell as whatever was inside, was ready to be free.

"What Pokémon is this egg supposed to be harboring?" Josh asked.

"I don't know…but I will tell you the story later…" Amanda said succinctly, fascinated by the egg.

Another major crack appeared and Colby held her breath as the Pokémon busted through the shell. It was covered in some goo of some sort, and seemed a bit confused.

Amanda sucked in a breath and grabbed a scrap rag of some sort from her bag. Attentively, she held out her palm, which the Pokémon sniffed curiously. He then sneezed; making a speck of the mysterious egg goo hit Colby's cheek. She smiled and wiped it off.

"What is it…?" Ellis asked curiously.

"Let me wipe this slime off of it, and then maybe then we can see his pretty face," Amanda smiled.

The little Pokémon seemed to like her instantly, and sat still while Amanda removed most of the slime from it. After getting a majority of it off, it lifted its head to gaze around the circle at each one of them.

"It's a shiny Pichu!" Colby said, recognizing that face and those markings anywhere.

The small Pichu's ears were pointed up as he was staring at them all in wonderment. Colby couldn't even imagine what it was like to be in an egg…and then just bust out one day to a strange new world that you didn't even know existed.

"Pi…Pichu," the little Pichu said.

Its markings were those normal of a shiny Pichu. Short, yellow-orange fur covered its body, along with the occasional markings of black on its ears and neck.

On his head, jagged shaped ruffles formed his hair, which made him look like a little dare devil from birth. The Pichu's tail was short and vaguely looked to be in a lightning bolt shape, like its further evolutions would have. Two little pink pouches were on his cheeks, making him look really cute.

Colby quickly got out her PokeLog, and held it up to the Pokémon. It logged the Pokémon quickly, and stored the information in the wireless data Dex chip that was accessible by all four of them (the fourth being…Riley). Colby was glad that the Dex chip was collective between the four of them…because there would be no way that all of this could be logged by one person. It was simply too much.

Just as Colby had said, the screen had a picture of the shiny Pokémon and tons of information that it had recorded in an instant. Colby felt sympathetic to the loggers of the newly discovered region's long ago that had to write all of this stuff down. Thank the Stellar Spirits for technology.

Just that word sent Colby's stomach into a dip as she remembered the vision clearly and all that she had learned. So far, she had been repressing the thoughts…and the responsibilities that seemed to come with this…choosing.

Trying hard not to think about that for now, she turned off the PokeLog and listened into the chattering of everyone that she seemed to have been ignoring.

"He's so cute!" Amanda cooed, picking up the little Pichu and giving him a hug.

Ellis was grinning from head to foot it seemed, and he took the little guy from Amanda's arms.

"Hey little fella, it's your Uncle Ellis. Okay…maybe not Uncle Ellis…" Ellis laughed, ruffling his already ruffled fur on the top of the Pichu's head.

The Pichu seemed to like Ellis, but didn't really like the holding of him as much. He walked over and sniffed Josh attentively…seeming to know that Josh wasn't really a person to mess with.

Mischievously as his truly daring nature was beginning to be revealed, the Pichu climbed his cloak and sat on his shoulder. This whole time, Josh didn't seem to know how to react and stiffened.

Josh's facial expression harbored confusion. He looked like he wanted to throw the Pokémon off…but oddly; Colby saw something like a glint of fear pass through his eyes. As soon as she noticed it though, it was gone, and she wondered if she had been imagining things in the first place.

He turned his head, and looked straight at the Pichu who was looking at him mischievously from the top of his shoulder.

Josh's eyes seemed bug out of his head as the two starred each other down within a couple inches of touching faces. Josh now looked confused, horrified, and irritated all in the same face, which was extremely interesting for viewing.

"This could turn out very badly…" Ellis whispered to Colby from beside her.

Colby rapidly nodded in agreement, now watching Amanda who seemed to be holding her breath this whole time. Colby turned her attention back to Josh, who had now gone cross eyes due to the Pichu who had his paws on Josh's nose.

Josh finally seemed to snap as the brave Pichu licked his face. He seemed to stand there for a few seconds and let the shock register on his face at what had just happened.

Quite finished, the Pichu jumped down and started to lick his paw nonchalantly in front of Amanda. Amanda, Ellis, and Colby's eyes were wide as Josh seemed to shrivel up like a prune. His face was twisted in a mask of confusion and disgust at the same time. He shuddered massively, shot a glare to the three of them (including the Pichu) and stormed off into the forest without looking back.

* * *

><p>They all three just stood there, Colby trying to keep her mouth from dropping open at what had just happened.<p>

As they all stayed quiet, Colby could hear some muffled yelling coming from the forest path he had just created. A flock of Pidgey's squawked and flew in an array shape far away from there.

Amanda petted the Pichu lightly on the head and looked at Colby and Ellis. They all three burst out laughing at the same time and before she knew it, Colby was almost in tears.

"I guess he couldn't handle kindness. Dear Stellar Spirits! Help me! Can't. Comprehend. Kindness," Ellis laughed, doing a crude imitation of Josh.

Amanda laughed and petted the Pichu again. She seemed very happy that he was doing well. Colby and Ellis plopped down in the grass beside her and Ellis grabbed an orange that he had in his backpack.

"So, we know that the Pichu is a little dare devil from the start! Who would challenge Josh that doesn't have some serious confidence?" Ellis asked, beginning to peel his orange.

"Oh yes," Amanda laughed, "I wondered that myself. Either he has some true spunk…or he just didn't know the storm that he was driving into."

"I'm surprised that he didn't just sense the snootiness' radiating from Josh," Ellis said, taking a bite of the orange slice.

Then, just as if someone had flipped a switch, the Pichu (who was curled up on Amanda's lap, seemingly dozing) jumped up like he had been energized by a lightning bolt.

Eyes fixated on the orange, the Pichu leaped and snatched the whole, peeled orange straight out of Ellis's hand.

Surprised, Ellis looked at him, who was practically inhaling the orange. "Hey! You little orange stealer!" Ellis laughed, watching the Pichu eat it.

"Well, we know what that little guy likes," Colby commented with a smile.

Amanda looked apologetic to Ellis, but couldn't stop herself from giggling.

"Now I think I have decided on a name," she said with a grin.

"What would that be? Orange Stealer?" Ellis asked.

"I'm going to name him Citrus because of his apparent love of oranges," Amanda said, looking at Citrus who was now licking his paws and completely done with the orange.

He was looking at Ellis with huge, puppy dog eyes, practically begging for another orange.

"Sorry Citrus! You ate my last one. We'll get you some more in the next town, buddy," Ellis said, petting Citrus.

Citrus yawned, and Colby glanced up at the sun that was at the halfway point in the sky. The day was half way over, but already so much had happened. Her new life was so much more exciting than the old one! "Where are we on the map now, Ellis?" Colby asked, stretching out against the back of the tree.

Ellis pulled out his map and pointed to the edge of the first claw, and the bridge back over to the mainland.

"We should be getting really close to the next bridge. We have almost cleared the first claw!" Ellis said excitedly, showing Colby and Amanda his map.

Colby nodded, "That's great! We are moving along! But still have a long way to go."

"Why don't you two let your Pokémon out to meet Citrus? I'm sure he would love to meet the group!" Amanda said, releasing Zero from his Poke Ball.

"Ze- Zero!" He called, shaking his fur off and looking at Citrus curiously.

They sniffed each other, and almost instantly seemed to make friends. Colby grabbed Nicksy's Poke Ball from her knapsack and called him out.

"Murr!" Nicksy mewed, rubbing Colby's hand.

After catching sight of Citrus, Nicksy looked a bit puzzled, but sniffed at Citrus. Citrus licked Nicksy on the nose (much like Josh's episode moments ago) and Nicksy seemed to like Citrus.

Emmera burst from Ellis's Poke Ball and also fit in with the group well. Colby grabbed Mara's Poke Ball and released her also. Everyone seemed to get along fine, and before they all knew it the Pokémon were playing like good friends.

"That's good that they all get along!" Colby said, watching Nicksy wrestle with Emmera.

"Well, all of our Pokémon seem to have great temperaments," Amanda said, pushing her glasses up and also watching the wrestling match with amusement. "Either that, or we are all just awesome trainers!" Ellis laughed.

Colby rest her head against the tree trunk and listened to Ellis and Amanda chatter. Her mind was tired, though they were only halfway through the day. She kind of wondered where Josh had run off to… He had left his pack and Pokémon, so he was going to have to come back eventually.

It had been a good day so far…because they hadn't run into Riley Giaden. He was such a…Colby really couldn't put it into words what he was. She sighed despite her natural hate for him, and laughed to herself.

"Aw, well isn't this just cute? A little Pokémon reunion is it?" A threatening voice said, jerking Colby out of her doze.

* * *

><p>Her eyes snapped open to see guy with light brown hair looking at them with a dangerous glint in his eyes. Colby's mouth about fell open to the interesting design and colors of his apparel which was unlike any she had ever seen.<p>

A purple, long sleeved shirt and a pair of loose fitting grey pants with adorned him, along with black boots.A peculiar design was stitched into the shirt that sort of resembled a moon with a star on the inside of the moon, and some interesting jagged lines rose up from above it. A purple headband with a star in the middle of it stretched across his bangs.

His smile was one of malice and obvious dislike. His nature was almost one of haughtiness and superiority.

"Huh?" Ellis said looking a bit confused as they all stood up to meet the kid. "Those are some cute Pokémon," he sneered, "too bad that I have to take them from you."

Even the Pokémon looked frightened, and had immediately crowded around the three in a protective (but frightened) manner.

"What are you talking about?" Ellis said sternly, starting to figure out that this guy didn't seem to be kidding.

The guy now was smiling even more devilishly. It wasn't like Riley's devilish smile, which always ended up being harmless pestering; this was a smile of pure evil. Colby felt a surge of fear, despite the guy seeming to be their age or not much older.

He started to advance towards them a couple steps, but stopped and studied all of them (Pokémon in particular). Could he possibly be a Pokémon thief? They could take him…maybe.

"What is to be confused, green one? I said I am taking your Pokémon. End of story," he said in his smooth, but dangerous voice.

Colby's eyes narrowed at the guy, and her unhappy face came back. "These are our Pokémon. You won't take them from us, so buzz off," Colby snapped, taking a step towards the invader.

Instead of fear, she now felt a surge of anger towards the boy. Who was he to come and steal their Pokémon? They had trained them, and captured them themselves, not him. No one was going to steal Nicksy, or any of their Pokémon for that matter.

She felt confident and all…but Josh was a bit more intimidating. For once, she wished he was here to give her some back up. Amanda looked pale, and gathered Zero in her arms.

Citrus was standing firmly in front of her with a growl escaping his lips and electricity discharging from his pink cheeks. The gesture was quite cute actually…

The guy gave a half hearted laugh and fixed his piercing gaze on Colby, who held her ground.

"I didn't give you a choice, my dear. I am going to take these Pokémon, whether it's the easy way or the hard way. But I can assure you, the hard way… Well, let's just say that things might get ugly," he returned with malice dancing in his eyes. Ellis snorted, "Yeah, you and what army?"

The guy face palmed and sighed, "You are the chattiest group that I think I have ever seen. I'm done with this inconsistent babbling. Look, I know people, and can really mess you up. Now, any more questions before I proceed to take your Pokémon?"

Colby looked between Amanda and Ellis, who seemed utterly annoyed by the stranger.

"Who do you think you are?" Amanda challenged, speaking for the first time.

He briefly glanced at her, but made sure his glare was sharp.

Amanda didn't flinch as he answered, "I am a grunt for Team Lunar. I take Pokémon, like yours-"

Colby's temper flared once again, "Where you then experiment on them, and dump them in dumpsters half dying."

The guy looked between her and Nicksy who was standing firmly at her side. Seeming to get something that she didn't, the guy's smile increased.

"You would know _a lot _about that, wouldn't you?"

Fear shot through Colby's body as she glanced briefly at Nicksy. Could he know? For once, she regretted saying anything.

"Enough with this nonsense go Lunatones!" The guy yelled, throwing out two silver Poke Balls.

Colby glanced at Ellis and Amanda, who were calling out their Pokémon. "Go Emmera!" Ellis said.

The little Leafeon stepped up in front of him, ready for battle.

"Go Zero!" Amanda called, letting Zero flank Emmera.

Citrus looked up at her with fire in his eyes, but Amanda mouthed a no. Colby guessed he just wasn't ready for battle yet…after all, he was just newly hatched. Citrus, seeing that he wasn't going to get a chance this time, stepped back to fiercely guard them.

"Let's go Nicksy!" Colby finished, letting the three face the guy's two.

Colby quickly recalled Mara to her Poke Ball and stuffed it in her backpack. Amanda pulled her Unknown cap down on her head, and looked between Colby and Ellis. This was going to be their first battle together. Team Lunar was the opponent.

Just as the guy was about to call out his first move, an all too familiar voice of Josh screamed at them.

"What the hell is going on here?"

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Hope you liked it guys! :) Nice to introduce Team Lunar, who have more to hide than you think. But, all their secrets are safe with the stars, and not ready to be told yet. So you know what that means…you'll have to wait for more! Let me know your thoughts and comments!<p>

**OH! I almost forgot! Want to see a rough sketch of what Team Lunar grunts look like? Our wiz drawer, real life Amanda, has brought that available to your viewing! Go check it out on Sumo Paint!**

**Website: Sumo Paint .com**

**Artist: Mayamayagirl  
><strong>

**Any other drawings that are completed will be posted on my profile, or the Author's note at the end of the chapter. Sorry we can't put a link :( But it won't let me put one... **

Thanks a bunch to all you fans! Enjoy, and hope you're having a great summer!

-colbyjackchz


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Colby exhaled a sigh of relief when she saw Josh standing there with fire in his eyes. She was glad (for once) that he was back to help them…perfect timing to. However, she was not too happy to see that he had brought a guest. Well…more so, _dragged_ a guest with him.

Josh's hand was clamped firmly around none other than a bought of flaming red hair's collar, Riley Giaden.

"I found _this_ in the woods."

Succinctly and with force Josh released Riley's collar and he smacked the ground. Looking startled, Riley jumped up immediately like nothing had ever happened and brushed himself off.

Looking at the whole back side of his pants (all the way down to the cuff) was a huge green streak from where Josh had dragged him, obviously pretty far. Horrified, his mouth dropped open and he shot Josh a glare of venom.

"Do you know how terribly hard grass stains are to get out?" Riley sputtered, his face seeming to turn as red as his hair.

Josh snorted, "If you don't shut the hell up, you're going to have to worry about blood stains to."

Riley didn't seem affected at all by the comment and continued to fume. This whole time, the grunt seemed to be somewhere in the middle between irritated and confused.

Amanda and Ellis exchanged looks of misery because Josh was back. Ellis especially looked ticked.

"We are kind of in the middle of a battle here… This guy is a grunt from Team Lunar…and is going to take our Pokémon-" Amanda started, but was interrupted.

"Oh, Twix, I won't let any harm come to you or your Pokémon," Riley cooed winking at Amanda.

Looking like she was going to be sick, her gaze shot to the ground.

"Yeah, that's all touching and all, but I'm here on business only ladies. Either we get this battle started, which I hope you know you're going to lose, or we go to option two," the grunt snapped, fed up.

Josh narrowed his eyes, and seemed to get that this guy was adopting _his_ hateful attitude strategy. Colby almost covered her eyes because of the pulsating hate that seemed to be radiating off of him like nuclear radiation. "Who the hell do you think you are? You're just a grunt. We could pound you and your damn Lunatones into the ground," Josh said, temper flaring.

The grunt seemed to be getting enjoyment in fueling his anger, and snorted.

"You think I'm just a grunt? How wrong you are. I am much more than that and you don't even know. But Team Lunar and I do know _a lot_ about you gym leader Josh."

Josh seemed ready to rip out all of the brown headed grunt's hair, and narrowed his eyes.

"Does anyone else find that creepy that that guy with the sash knows so much about Josh?" Riley whispered from beside Colby.

Riley was bad at whispering, because they both turned around. Josh shot Riley a look of death and the grunt was frowning.

"Hold still while I choke you with my sash," the grunt said calmly.

Riley got a look of offense on his face and seemed a bit irritated by the grunt but for once shut up. What was odd…was that it actually wasn't a sash…

"Lunatones, let's get this started! Use confusion," he yelled.

Noticing he was in the line of fire, Josh stalked over to stand by everyone else.

"Don't worry about it Josh! We have this," Colby assured him.

Josh looked up at her, with anger still clouding his gaze, and nodded. Riley glanced at Colby and plastered his flirtatious smile on his face.

"How about that date Tootsie Pop? Reconsidering?"

"Riley! This isn't the time!" Colby hissed, paying attention to the battle which was already starting.

Amanda and Ellis were ready on a moment's notice and had immediately responded to the call for battle. The Lunatones were jabbing moves at Emmera and Zero, but the two weren't backing down with their battle strategy. "Emmera, use tackle!" Ellis yelled.

"Zero, feint attack!" Amanda said.

Emmera smacked the Lunatone on the left with a fierce tackle, causing it to stumble back.

"Lunatone, confusion, now!" The grunt called.

The Lunatone stopped and got a faraway look in its eyes. Its eyes turned a shade of blue and out pulsed a ray of confusion.

Emmera was able to dodge most of it, but was clipped by the edge of it. Looking stunned and dazed, Emmera shook its head back and forth to clear its head from the daze.

On the other side of the battle, Amanda and Zero were working as an in sync team. Fire burned in Zero's eyes as he let loose a fierce ember. It was so powerful that Colby could feel the heat from 10 feet away.

When the flames subsided, the Lunatone's eyes were wide…and it looked _extremely_ crispy. On Amanda's side of the field, the moon shaped Pokémon fell. Colby glanced at the grunt that didn't seem very happy. Well, he was the one who was so overly self confident… Two Lunatones weren't going to beat five trainers and all of their Pokémon. Unless those Lunatones were super overpowered…

On the other side, Emmera conjured and energy ball that looked sort of like floating goo. It smacked the slow to move Lunatone directly in the face. It flinched under the blow and seemed pretty worn out.

The grunt still pushed, "Lunatone! Get up you worthless excuse for a Pokémon!"

"Emmera, finish him with razor leaf!" Ellis called.

Emmera, not seeming tired at all, inhaled a deep breath. Around the Pokémon, leaves started to hover and spin. A glaze overtook Emmera's eyes and all at once the leaves exploded towards the Lunatone. The Lunatone's eyes widened and he stumbled back as the blows struck him.

"Luna…" He murmured, and then feinted.

The grunt recalled the two Pokémon and looked shocked. Colby was just about to say something when Riley interrupted.

"Doesn't that embered Lunatone make you think of fried chicken?" Riley drooled, being so close he could practically attach his shoulder to hers.

Colby rolled her eyes, "You're thinking of _fried chicken_ when we are battling against Team Lunar?"

Riley looked surprised, "What? You're not-"

"Of course I'm not! We were too busy watching the battle and trying to win for the sake of the Pokémon who are being experimented with! Not thinking about fried chicken!" Colby yelled, pointing at the grunt who now had his head down. "You know…it's very rude to point…" Amanda said.

At that moment, Riley and Ellis spun around to face each other. They raised their pointer fingers at each other and stood there with interesting looks on their faces, pointing.

Colby smacked both of their hands down, "This isn't the time for your stupid bickering."

Everyone turned their attention back to the grunt who was still looking at the floor.

"We have won, now scram," Amanda said confidently.

The grunt slowly looked up at them with hate in his eyes.

"You may have one this battle, but the war is far from over. This isn't the last you will see of me, mark my words. You will be sorry you ever tried to resist me. Next time, it could be a fight for not only your Pokémon, but your lives," the grunt hissed, running off into the forest as suddenly as he came.

Colby's stomach dipped at the threat and she got goose bumps. He seemed to know something about Nicksy…which wasn't good. In the Pokémon Center, the guy with the suit had warned her not to speak too much of it. But sometimes her temper took over… He was probably just trying to be scary…Yeah, that had to be it.

Trying to forget her busy thoughts, Colby exhaled a huge sigh and turned back to the four of them. Josh was still glaring off in the distance that grunt had run. Maybe he had found someone he hated more than Ellis and Riley! Riley was making kissy faces at Amanda (that he thought Colby didn't notice). Colby, disgusted and not as polite as Amanda, smacked Riley upside the head. He winced and gave her a pouty look.

"Ow! Tootsie Pop that hurt. What did you do that for?"

"Why do you think? Do you not realize that Amanda and I do not like you-"

"Aw, you know that's a lie Tootsie. You just don't want to say so. Tough love baby, tough love," Riley smiled, grabbing her hand.

Colby rolled her eyes and jerked her hand out of his grip. This case was helpless, and always will be. Ellis looked like he had been sucking a sour lemon from beside Amanda, and glared at Riley.

"What are you glaring at Pothead?" Riley challenged.

Ellis twitched with annoyance, and really wanted to punch his chili pepper face. Grinding his teeth practically, Ellis tried to relax under Amanda's warning stare.

"Josh…why?" Colby asked him from beside her.

Josh stiffened and gave Riley a look. Something quickly flashed in his eyes, but was gone in a second and was replaced by his sneer.

"He was calling me 'Pothead's girlfriend' and I'm not going to take that. So I dragged him back here," Josh said, not looking at anyone.

Colby nodded but couldn't help but feel there was something more to it. Something that he didn't want to tell everyone…

"Instead of just smacking him into the ground, you brought him back to us?" Ellis asked, glaring at them both.

"I'm right here you know!" Riley snapped.

Josh seemed a bit uncomfortable and started to fidget under Ellis's glare, though it did seem as if his anger had subsided for the moment.

"Guys, just drop it," Colby said succinctly and with force.

Everyone just kind of looked at each other, with silence in the air.

"Well, we better get going…" Amanda said, glancing at the sun that was about to go down.

"Is _he_ going with us?" Ellis asked.

Colby sighed; she really didn't think that was the best idea…

"Of course I am," Riley smiled, "I've got to keep Tootsie and Twix company."

He then put his arm around Amanda, who shrank behind Ellis. Poor Amanda…she seemed to be getting the brute of his flintiness.

Colby rolled her eyes; this was going to be a _long_ evening.

* * *

><p>"Wake up!" Colby heard someone yell.<p>

Groggily she sat up and starred Josh straight in the face.

"What?" She mumbled, still half asleep.

"It's time to get going," he snarled.

Just wonderful, he was in a worse mood this morning than last night. Colby rolled her eyes and pulled herself out of her sleeping bag to begin gathering her things up.

Last night, as the evening went on, Josh seemed to be going from a quiet mood to super rage for no reason. He was now extremely irritable and snapped frequent comments at Ellis. Though what puzzled Colby was that he had sharply lain off shooting Riley comments…which made her wonder. They were arch enemies, but it didn't seem as if the hatred was so strong anymore. That left poor Ellis to take all of Josh's hateful comments and rage.

Colby glanced at the time on Ellis's MID after finishing rolling up her sleeping bag. She found that it was only seven in the morning.

"Josh! You got us all up at seven?" Colby growled.

Josh shot his bitter gaze at her and practically exploded out of rage.

"Do you want to get to the damn city before next year or not? That means we move! Not sleep till noon and take our time eating Poffins!" Josh hissed.

Colby's stomach dipped at the mention of Poffins, and Amanda shot her a sympathetic look from where she was wrapping up her sleeping bag. "Josh…her parents died in a Poffin factory explosion..." Amanda said, trying to help him understand.

Colby narrowed her eyes at him, and finished packing her stuff up. Josh didn't look sympathetic at all and snorted.

"Not everyone can have this little perfect life. So forget about the past and grow up," Josh growled.

Hurt plastered itself on Colby's face as she thought about her parents. She had been trying to get over it, and new friends had helped, but she wasn't completely healed yet. She could never be.

Riley for once, didn't say anything and was just standing beside Josh with his hands in his pockets.

"Get up!" Josh yelled, kicking Ellis's sleeping bag, where he was still snoring. "Ow!" Ellis yelped as a boot connected with his ribcage.

Jumping up, he turned to look at Josh who was staring at him with blazing eyes.

"What the hell was that for?" Ellis snarled.

Riley was now looking at Ellis's pain with mild amusement, but didn't say anything. Colby was about ready to punch Josh, because he had no right to be such a jerk to everyone. Everyone gets angry sometimes, but he didn't need to take his anger out on everyone else.

"You wouldn't get your ass up," Josh snapped.

"Stop it! You have no right to do this! Just because you get angry doesn't mean you have any right to take it out on the rest of us!" Amanda yelled, eyes blazing. Josh glared at her, "You don't know anything. I'll bet your parents sheltered you and cuddled you all your life. You wouldn't know what being alone is."

Pain flashed in Amanda's eyes and tears began to well up in her eyes. She pulled her Unknown cap over her head and grabbed her pack, then broke off into a run down the path.

"Amanda! Wait!" Ellis yelled, grabbing his stuff, shooting Josh the birdie, and running to catch up with her.

Colby looked down at the ground and let the breeze blow her hair. Riley seemed to be standing there in shock, and Josh just looked angry. Colby grabbed her stuff and started off to catch up with the other two. Not looking back, she ran to catch up with Amanda and Ellis.

When she finally caught up, she realized that warm tears were running down her face. Wiping them off with the back of her sleeve furiously, she put up her walls again. Amanda seemed to be keeping quiet as she walked on beside Ellis and Colby.

"I would know," she said quietly, still looking at the ground.

"Hm?" Ellis asked, coming out of his thoughts.

"I would know what being alone is. I don't even know my parents. My life has been spent in an orphanage in Portsburg…" Amanda trailed off.

Colby felt a pang of sadness for her, because she knew what it was like to be an orphan to.

"I'm so sorry…" Ellis said with sadness.

"I know what that's like to. After my parents died, it was the loneliest feeling in the world. I am trying to get over it, and you guys are being a major help. Thanks for being my friends. Thank you Ellis for your persistence on the boat," Colby said, giving Ellis a half smile.

Ellis returned the smile, and Amanda looked up at Colby.

"I think he is just angry…for some reason. Eventually it will get better, and I'm sure he meant none of what he said," Colby assured Amanda and herself.

Colby looked back and saw that those two were following a few yards meters back, not saying a word. Josh looked sad and angry in the same setting, and Riley seemed expressionless, staring off into the forest.

Colby sighed and looked ahead to the dirt path that they were following. Ellis had said earlier that they were getting close to the bridge, at least she hoped! That way they would be closer to Sanville and the next gym, which she eagerly awaited.

Her mind absently drifted back to the vision that Faye had sent her way. She had seen The Great Battle…and the battle between the Dragon Trio. So many questions had flooded her head, and she needed answers soon. Hopefully in the next vision, Faye would explain some things to her.

Colby didn't even realize how mentally exhausted from everything she felt. She sometimes wondered what the journey would be like if Josh hadn't decided to forcefully join them. It would definitely be less stressful on all of them.

Glancing back at them again, she could see that they were talking a bit. Another thing that puzzled her was why Josh and Riley had become buddies now... They had always hated each other but now it was like they both had an epiphany and were friends. It was odd, and extremely puzzling. She couldn't help but wonder if something had happened in the woods that they weren't speaking about.

"What's with them?" Amanda whispered to Colby.

Colby shrugged, "That's what I was just thinking about. It's like…they just changed their whole opinions of each other."

"I'm thinking something happened in the woods," Ellis said with a silly smile and a wink.

Colby rolled her eyes and Amanda tried to suppress a giggle.

"No Ellis, I don't think something happened _like that_. Don't be absurd, Riley likes Amanda and I remember?"

Ellis chuckled, "I know, I was just kidding. Yes, something definitely changed."

Amanda seemed a bit better after Josh's jabs, and seemed to return to her normal self with Ellis and Colby around her. Colby also felt a bit better, but repressed any sadness.

"Hang on just a second guys…I have to tie my shoe," Ellis laughed, crouching to tie his shoe.

Colby and Amanda stopped to wait for him, and started to get a bad feeling as Josh approached with Riley. Amanda shot Colby a look, and it seemed as if the tension was just crackling in the air. Ellis had better hurry up…

"Great Stellar Spirits, the rest of you are just as slow as his brain is," Josh growled, gesturing to Ellis who stood up from tying his shoe.

Something in Ellis's eyes seemed to just catch on fire as he starred Josh down. Colby almost covered her eyes, here we go again…

"You know what? If you hate us all so much then why don't you just leave? Why do you have to make us suffer through your bad attitude all the time? The whole point of our journey together was to go on an adventure, meeting new people, gain bonds with Pokémon, and make new friends. So far, you are not acting like a friend!" Ellis yelled, jabbing Josh with his finger.

Something in Josh's eyes seemed to snap, and Colby knew that it was all coming down to this moment…the moment where Josh snapped. Colby glanced at Riley who seemed a bit surprised to at what happened next. Josh opened his mouth to say something surely nasty, but nothing came out.

"I can't take this anymore! Want to know why I'm so angry all the time? Well, I'll tell you, so shut the hell up and go grab some popcorn!"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Hm…well, that chapter was interesting to write! It was almost depressing to write, about their big fight that is. Tune in next time to see why Josh is so angry all the time! *gasps* :P <strong>

**Review and comment to tell me what you think! :)  
><strong>

** -colbyjackchz**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

"I never knew my father…I mean really knew him… My mom never spoke of him at all, and naturally I got curious. When she did talk about him, the conversation usually was pushed to the side if you know what I mean," Josh hissed sadly, looking at the ground and lost in memories.

Colby, Amanda, Ellis, and Riley were all crowded around him with ears listening in anticipation. He had snapped…and he was finally explaining to everyone why he was so angry all the time. This had better be a good reason for giving everyone his usual crap. Still, despite his past, he really shouldn't take it out on his friends.

"The day after I turned ten, I decided that hearing what little she said about him wasn't enough. I was sick of being treated like a child. She told me that he lived in Taunsville and so I decided to go find him myself… I made the journey in a few days, because I had borrowed a friend's Fearow to fly me half way across Aurora. When I arrived there, I asked around for Lucas Darrel, which was his name. Weirdly enough, no one seemed to want to give me information about him… Which I found odd," Josh paused and looked at the four of them with hurt in his eyes.

"Finally after a long day of searching in Taunsville, I came upon this small café. I was tired and hungry, but something told me to check this while getting something to eat…"

A clear picture painted itself in Colby's mind of Josh flying across Aurora to find his father. Sure, it sounded ridiculous…but she would go to the ends of the world to find out the truth to.

"Sitting alone in a booth was a man with jet black hair, drinking coffee. It was almost as if he was waiting for me…because as soon as I opened the door to the café, he looked up at me with piercing green eyes. Walking over to the stranger, I asked him if he knew a Lucas Darrel… The next words he said almost made me go into shock. W_hat do you want Josh?" _Josh sighed and Colby saw anger begin to build up in his eyes again…

"Suddenly…I noticed our resemblance and recognized the man that was my father. The man that I had come all this way for was sitting in a bench five feet from where I was standing. _Father…?_ I asked. He just looked at me with a blank expression on his face, which quickly turned to a sneer. _Oh father! I'm so glad I found you! Now you can come back to live with mom and I…and maybe you can help me become a great gym leader- _I gushed, elated that I had found my father, finally. In the middle of my sentence…he threw back his head and laughed, malice clouding his eyes. I got a bad feeling in my stomach as he said his next words to me," Josh stopped, and looked to an invisible point in the distance somewhere.

"_Help you become a great gym leader? Move back in with you and your mother? You aren't my son, and you never were. It's a disgrace that you have any of my blood. I suggest you scamper back to wherever you came from and forget about any dreams you have or ever will. You. Will. Be. Nothing. No matter how hard you try, or how much help you get, you will never amount to anything." _

Pain and rage clouded Josh's eyes as he explained this, and Colby could tell he was fighting tears.

"He said I would be nothing…he said I was nothing… After that, I ran out of that café, hearing his mocking laughter following me…and didn't look back. I jumped on Fearow, and headed back to Ft. Jonova. It seemed that everything was pointless now…and I decided that if the world hated me…I would hate it back twice as hard. When I got home, clouded in sadness and anger, I gave my Mom an excuse that I was at the gym training with Dusty. At the time I was in training with Dusty the gym leader so I could secede him as the gym leader someday. After that, I didn't speak a word of what I did…or my father again," Josh concluded, hanging his head low.

Colby's mouth fell open to speak…but nothing came out. Glancing at Amanda, she saw sympathy in her eyes. Riley was now the one looking at the invisible point in the distance, and seemed to be doing some thinking.

Ellis briefly met her eyes but then shot his gaze back to the ground. Colby realized that it was up to her to speak…because it seemed as if no one else was going to.

"Josh... We are your friends, and will be here for you, but you have to let us," Colby said, meeting his eyes.

Irritation flashed in his eyes…but he seemed to control it. "Whatever…just…now you know…okay?" Josh told everyone.

Surprisingly, he didn't seem angry when he said it…just tired and partially confused. Colby guessed he was just having troubles conveying his emotions...or he just wanted to drop the subject.

"Are you going to try to stop being so rude to us now?" Amanda asked.

Josh glanced at her and hesitated, but nodded.

"I-I can try…I mean, sometimes…it just gets to me…"

Ellis looked a bit sympathetic but didn't seem sure if he was buying that. Josh was mean to him all the time, so Colby could understand where his doubt would be coming from.

"Alright…I think we understand each other, right Ellis?" Colby asked, turning to their little green headed friend.

Ellis looked between them all, and then at Josh.

"Yeah," he grunted.

Colby sighed and rubbed her temples from the headache that seemed to be forming, great.

"You're going to treat us all like friends Josh?" Amanda asked, still a bit suspicious after what he said to her.

"I told you…I will try…and I'm sorry for what I said to you guys…" Josh said sadly, hanging his head and starting to walk away.

"He needs his space," Riley said, speaking for the first time when Colby was about to call Josh back.

She closed her mouth and glanced at Riley who seemed to have a serious look upon his face. Well, that was a first!

"What happened in the forest, Riley?" Amanda asked, coming to stand beside them.

Ellis reluctantly joined their circle, but didn't glance at Riley. Honestly, Ellis could be so stubborn sometimes. Colby grabbed his collar and yanked him beside Amanda.

"Yeah, what did happen?" Ellis asked, rolling his eyes at Colby.

Riley glanced at Josh, who was still walking down the path, a good distance away.

"Alright…but don't mention any of this to him… I was on my usual route, smashing through forests and searching for Pokémon. Oh! I did find one by the way! Want to see it-"

"Riley! Just get to the point!" They all yelled in unison.

Riley glared at them and began the explanation again.

"Anyways, I came to a clearing and saw Josh there sitting in front of a tree. He looked absolutely furious and was angrily pulling at the grass while sulking. I came up to him and said _there's no reason to be sulking emo boy. Why are you sulking like a sad little emo boy? You probably have the least problems of us all. You have no reason to be emo._ He looked up at me, with hurt in his eyes instead of rage. Astounded, I took a step back…for fear of him exploding or something. He then proceeded to unload all of his baggage …after some small talk that is. Needing the support, he decided to 'drag' me back with him," Riley explained. "That's it? So now you're both friends?" Ellis asked, seeming disgusted with the thought.

Riley shot a nasty look at Ellis, "Well, I wouldn't say friends… But we defiantly aren't mortal enemies anymore."

Colby pondered the thought of Riley and Josh being friends… It was an interesting picture. But then again, poor little Ellis would have to take all of their tirades by himself… unless that grunt happened to be around…

"As Josh said, now you know-"

"Oh dear Stellar Spirits, now you're going to quote him?" Ellis snapped, probably realizing that he was going to be on his own with the insults.

"Shut the hell up Pothead," Riley hissed, marching off.

"Okay, so now you're just going to leave?" Amanda called.

Riley turned around to look at her, with a smile.

"What's that Twix? Do you want me to stay? Anything for you."

Amanda's face whitened, "No…you're free to go…"

"But yes, I've got places to go, people to meet, and Pokémon of my own to train. I'll see you later Twix, and stay beautiful Tootsie," Riley called, bounding off into the woods with a wink.

* * *

><p>The three had finally caught up to Josh, who seemed quiet. Ellis and Amanda chatted between their selves as they walked through the forest, not seeing many Pokémon out. Colby was busy with her thoughts, and her mind was going in seven different directions.<p>

Josh's back story had certainly intrigued her, and Riley's explanation of what had happened in the woods was surely interesting. Still, the thought of the two becoming friends almost scared her. It would be helpful as to stopping some of the bickering…but then again, Ellis would just get all of it.

Colby sighed and rubbed her temples, trying to ease her pounding headache.

"Something wrong?" Josh asked from beside her.

Ellis and Amanda were busy in a conversation about some Pokémon… Colby turned to Josh, thoroughly surprised that he had said anything.

She shrugged, "My head just hurts is all."

Josh nodded, "I'm sorry. At least we're almost to the bridge."

Almost to the bridge…well that certainly was a plus, because then they would be closer to Sanville.

"Have you ever traveled this route before?" Colby asked.

Josh nodded, "Yeah…Dusty took me on a little trip to Sanville when I was younger."

Dusty…speaking of, where was Dusty? Did he die? Or why did Josh have to take over as gym leader?

"Did Dusty die…? Or why did you secede him as gym leader?" Colby asked, hoping the question wouldn't offend him.

She definitely didn't want to make him mad again.

Josh shook his head, "No…I don't know what happened to Dusty… Just, one day I went in for training and he was gone… No note was left or anything. That I know of, no one ever saw him again. It was like he just disappeared off the planet."

That seemed peculiar. There was no way that he could just disappear without leaving some kind of sign…could he? Colby couldn't help but feel that there was something more to that than just a random disappearance. "Huh…well…" She stuttered, trying to find words.

Josh looked at her, "I know… Sometimes I wonder if the disappearance was just 'random' if you know what I mean."

"Yeah…maybe it wasn't random. Was he acting strange or anything before?" Colby asked, trying to examine the possibilities.

But then again, she wasn't a lawyer.

"No, not at all, just normal," Josh answered, seeming puzzled himself.

Colby shrugged the thought away and tried not to add to her headache too much.

"Hey guys, it's the bridge!" Ellis said, pointing on the horizon.

Looking up, Colby saw the gleaming metal of the bridge shining in the distance. The smell of salt water was once again invaded her nostrils…sort of reminding her vaguely of the smell of her visions on the escarpment.

Pushing those thoughts away, the four started to notice that the trees were thinning as they got closer to the bridge. Even from a mile or two away, the bridge (like the last one) was huge. But unlike the last one, this one seemed to be out in the middle of nowhere. There weren't as many buildings on this side of the bridge like the other one. Oh well, at least they were getting closer to Sanville!

"Last one there is a rotten Eggsecute!" Ellis yelled, taking off on his running spree again.

Colby sighed it really stunk to be a rotten Eggsecute.

* * *

><p>Ellis made it to the bridge at least ten minutes before everyone else, and was looking out over the water when they got there.<p>

"Well, it's about time you three showed up!" Ellis said, looking smug.

Amanda rolled her eyes, "You know Ellis, not all of us are as fast as a Sneasel."

Ellis laughed and went back to looking out over the water. The breeze brought some more salt water spray as the four looked out over the water, gripping the iron rail. The ocean seemed to stretch as far as she could see, on the left side that is. That part opened up into an ocean, and to the right was a land locked on two side's water inlet. It was where the claw was supposed to connect to the land… But as a result of Giratina's rage, an earthquake broke the four claws from the mainland…

The vision came tumbling back to her and once again the questions flooded her head. She really wished that she could tell one of her friends about this…tell someone…but they had enough to worry about as it is.

Besides, she didn't want to scare them…and until she had more information, what was the point of worrying them?

"Congratulations," someone said from behind them.

The four turned around and Colby put her back to the rail. Standing there with his hands in his pockets was someone Colby had forgotten all about till now. It was the man in the suit from the Pokémon Center.

The one that told them about Team Lunar and the one that had warned them about Nicksy. Also the one that said he would see them again.

He looked the same, with his brown (but graying just the slightest) hair fluffy, but neatly arranged on his head and his face was clean shaven.

Colby heard Amanda (who was now holding Citrus, since he seemed to be getting stuffy in the Poke Ball before they got to the bridge) sucked in a breath as she saw the man.

"Congratulations to you all. Especially you with the green hair and you…" The man said, gesturing towards Amanda's directions.

From beside Colby, Josh looked confused but didn't say anything. "Congratulations for what?" Ellis asked, recognizing the man also.

"I saw your battle with that grunt from Team Lunar. You two worked very well together," he said plainly, looking at them both.

Ellis looked startled and looked at Colby quizzically. She shrugged, having no idea why he was here. Well…he did say _you will see me again very soon. _But…who in the world was he? Then it came back to her, he said he was from Team Lunar!

"What do you want? On some Team Lunar mission?" Colby snapped.

The man glanced at her with authority in his eyes, "Did I not explain this to you before, girl? I am no longer affiliated with the Team."

Colby narrowed her eyes, "Well, then what do you want with us?"

The man pulled out his gold pocket watch and checked the time. He snapped it closed and stuffed it back in his pocket.

"I told you. I was simply congratulating you two on your efforts. This region needs to have more kids like you five, including the red haired one, to fight Team Lunar. Let me just warn you though, they are powerful… Powerful in ways that you don't have a clue, so be careful," the man answered, looking between the four of them.

"Thanks for the warning," Colby said succinctly.

The man nodded and set his gaze upon Amanda. She clutched Citrus to her chest and returned his gaze.

"Ah, I see it hatched, take good care of him," the man said, giving Amanda a look.

"Y-yeah…thank you," she responded, giving him smile but still not sure what reaction was appropriate.

The man looked at Josh and nodded, "You're Dusty's successor I see? Or were…"

Josh's eyes widened in surprise, "Do you know Dusty?"

"Sort of," the man said succinctly.

"Is he alright?" Josh asked, practically pleading for information.

"If you mean harmed, yes, he's fine," the man answered.

"Where is he?" Josh asked.

"I can't tell you anything more. I wish you all the best of luck and be safe on your journey. Don't worry, you will see me again soon," the man said with hard eyes, giving them one last look and continuing down the bridge towards the other side.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Yes, the mysterious man in the suit is back! Who could he be? What does he want with the characters? Well, those questions are going to have to be answered through time and reading ;) Enjoy the reading, and please post your comments in reviews because I would love to hear from you! :) <strong>


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

"What did he mean by 'I see it hatched'?" Ellis asked Amanda.

They were coming to the edge of the bridge, just after the encounter with the man in the suit. He surely was a mysterious one…and Colby couldn't figure him out if her life depended on it. What did spark her interest thought was that the man knew Amanda. The two had met before they'd met Amanda…which meant that those two had an encounter before the journey had begun.

"Well…I was going to tell you guys this…but I thought it had been pretty insignificant at the time. But the way I got Citrus was by and egg given to me by that man," Amanda explained, setting Citrus on her shoulder.

He nibbled at her hair for a while but at the mention of his name, his ears perked up and he settled on her shoulder to look out over the landscape. The little guy was definitely smart if he already recognized his name at a couple days old.

"So…just out of nowhere the guy came up and handed you an egg?" Colby asked.

Amanda nodded, "Yeah, pretty much. I was walking to the Pokémon Center to meet you guys and at the town gate the man stopped me-"

"First of all, why would you stop for a strange man?" Josh asked, speaking for the first time since meeting the man on the bridge.

Amanda opened her mouth to say something, but closed it when nothing came out.

"The world isn't what it used to be…now Team Lunar is in power and not to mention gaining strength. My mentor, Dusty, who was a fifty eight year old man just _vanished_. If someone can pick up an old man, it wouldn't even be a challenge to pick up a girl. It's dangerous," Josh said, playing wise guy.

Though Colby couldn't argue, he did have a point… because anyone could be nabbed at anytime. Yes, the world wasn't what it used to be. From what Colby could remember about Hecate, kids smaller than them were running around on Pokémon adventures…

Now that she thought about it, they hadn't seen very many trainers out and about during their journey. Oh well…it was still early.

Amanda looked uncomfortable, "Yeah I guess it was pretty stupid of me. But anyway, he said this to me: _I need someone who I know will take good care of this…It's a special Pokémon and has been saved from malpractice. Keep it safe and good luck._"

Saved from malpractice? Of course she knew what the term meant…but what would that have to do with the Pokémon egg? The man didn't seem like a threat…but something about him just seemed off, though Colby couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

"Well…that's interesting. At least you got Citrus!" Ellis exclaimed, scratching the little Pichu's head.

"Is that all you have to say?" Josh snapped, glaring at Ellis, "There could be more to this guy. I think he know more that he wants us to. What was that about him working for Team Lunar?"

The visit from him at the Pokémon Center flooded her mind.

"Well, the first time we met the man he was sitting across from us at the Pokémon Center when Nicksy was getting healed. In case you don't know the back story behind Nicksy, I found him in a dumpster at Portsburg. He had radiation burns and other medical complications from being experimented on. According to the nurse, he was a hybrid Pokémon experimented on by Team Lunar. Anyway, this man told us a bit about Team Lunar and how Nicksy wasn't supposed to survive. He also talked about how I needed to keep him safe because _someday your Pokémon may be all you have,_" Colby explained, getting chills from just thinking about what he may have meant.

"He also said something like he used to work for Team Lunar," Ellis added.

Josh frowned, "I don't know…for some reason I have my doubts."

Colby agreed with him…something just seemed odd about the man. For one, he was following random children around on their Pokémon journey…

A noise broke her thoughts that sounded like a deep wail. All four of them whipped around and came face to face with a Wailmer.

* * *

><p>"Maaaaa!" The Wailmer called, facing Josh with a look of happiness and its tongue hanging half out of its mouth.<p>

"What the hell. Is this?" Josh yelled as he looked at the at least six foot Wailmer. "Aw! It's a Wailmer!" Amanda said, standing on her tiptoes to pet its head.

"I think it has taken a liking to Josh," Colby snickered as the Wailmer was inching closer to him with a huge smile on its face.

Josh's eyes looked huge as the Wailmer kept coming closer and Josh kept backing up.

"Maaa!" It said again, sounding squeaky.

"I-I think it would be best if we kept on walking…" Josh stuttered, with huge eyes.

"Why is it this far away from water?" Ellis asked.

"The better question…is how it got this far…" Amanda pointed out.

Colby couldn't help herself from laughing as the Wailmer kept advancing on Josh. It was doing this in an interesting way…rolling on its side like a barrel. "Do a barrel roll!" Ellis yelled as the Wailmer rolled toward Josh.

"Maaaa!" It called, stopping before it could crush him.

Now they knew how it moved! Amanda grabbed her PokeLog and started to record the data, smiling as she went.

"Oh, Josh, a fun fact: Wailmer weighs around two hundred and eighty pounds, good luck carrying that," Amanda laughed.

Josh looked horrified and continued to stare the Pokémon down.

"I am not keeping this thing," he squeaked.

"You have to! He has bonded with you," Ellis laughed.

"I refuse. Absolutely _not_," Josh insisted. "We need to just walk away right now-"

Ellis shrugged and continued down the path as the others followed. Josh seemed to be walking faster than them from beside her, and looked scared. "Maa!" The Wailmer called in a wail of distress.

"Josh, it doesn't want you to leave it," Colby said.

Josh shook his head back and forth, "I- No, I don't want it."

Colby heard something and turned around. From behind them the Wailmer was rolling on its side again trying to catch up.

"You're going to leave it like that? It's already too far from the water and if it's left like this, it will surely die," Amanda insisted, shooting the Wailmer a sympathetic look.

"Maaaa!" It wailed rolling toward them with its little arms flailing as it rolled. Josh looked pained, "No! Do you know what that thing evolves into? It becomes a forty seven foot tall Wailord! It weighs over eight hundred pounds! It will find its way back the way it came."

Colby's eyes got wide, it would be huge! Of course it was the biggest Pokémon…

"Still, it needs you Josh!" Amanda pushed.

Colby's eyes almost popped out of her head when she saw the beginnings of the tragedy that happened next. Out of the trees on the left, a Pidgey saw a worm poking out of the path. With a flap of its wings, it landed on the path…right in front of the Wailmer.

"No!" Colby and Josh yelled at the same time as the Pidgey couldn't fly away in time.

With a crunching sound, the Wailmer rolled over the Pidgey. Josh looked like he was choking on something and horror clouded his face. Amanda's mouth was hanging open and Ellis looked like he was going to be sick (his face going as green as his hair).

_Level up! Wailmer is evolving!_

Random words announced, coming out of nowhere.

"Oh God! Oh dear God! Press the B button! Where the hell is the B button? Someone press it," Josh yelled as the Wailmer began to change.

What was he saying about a B button…?

"How is it evolving already? We aren't at level forty!" Ellis yelled, running around in circles.

"We have to run!" Amanda squeaked, looking pale and backing off her 'save the Wailmer' speech.

Colby agreed and decided running was a great idea! The four bolted as the earth seemed to shake around them with the Wailmer's evolution.

"Maaaa!" It called in a much deeper, fog horn sounding voice.

Colby stopped and slowly turned around to face the Wailord in horror. It was the biggest thing she had ever seen in her life…It could blot out the sun!

Josh was simply standing there in silence with rage clouding his eyes. "Why? Why does this always happen to me?" Josh yelled, blowing a gasket. "You've had a Wailmer evolve before?-" Ellis started.

"No you dumbass! Why does everything bad happen to me? Everything that can go wrong _will_!" Josh raged, having quite a temper.

Amanda seemed shocked and didn't say anything. Looking up again, Colby realized that she couldn't even see the top of the animal. It reminded her of the skyscrapers in Portsburg…only wider, bluer, and more obsessive over Josh. The Wailord was grinning down at Josh with a smile almost literally busting its face. "Alright…Let's just handle this calmly-" Colby began.

"No! No, no no! How the hell can we think about this rationally? There is a forty foot tall Wailord that thinks I'm its mother! We just brought a Wailord on _land_!" Josh interrupted again, still yelling.

Well…he did have a point. Colby didn't even know how they were going to solve this one…besides if Josh took the Pokémon which didn't seem very probable at the moment…

"You know, according to my PokeLog here…this Wailord is forty _seven_ foot tall, not forty," Ellis clarified, suddenly getting quiet because of the look Josh was shooting him.

"Woah, okay Josh, calm down. We'll figure this out," Colby assured him, stepping between the two to avoid a fight.

Colby's head was spinning as she looked between Josh and the Wailord. Why didn't he just take the thing? Josh looked at the ground and sighed deeply. The next move he made seemed to shock the three. Josh slung his knapsack onto his arm and reached inside one of the pockets, retrieving a Poke Ball.

Looking between it and the smiling Wailord he muttered some choice words under his breath and chucked the Poke Ball at the Wailord. The huge Pokémon delved into the Poke Ball with no fight put up at all into being captured. Rolling on the ground, the red and white ball clicked on the first roll, capturing the huge Wailord.

"You…you caught it?" Amanda asked.

Josh looked between the three of them and sighed.

"Yeah," he replied succinctly. "Now let's get out of here. We need to get to Sanville."

Colby couldn't believe what she had just witnessed. Josh not giving a snippy reply _and _being kind to a Pokémon in need. Maybe…just maybe he is changing. Maybe having friends that support him and care is softening him up. Colby smiled and caught up with the other three to continue their journey towards the ground gym of Sanville.

* * *

><p>Colby leaned against a tree and watched Amanda log some more Pokémon. They had traveled a bit longer after catching the Wailord (which still shocked her) and were now taking a break so Amanda could log some of the wild Pokémon for Professor Daunte's project that they (and Riley Giaden) were selected to do.<p>

Colby and Ellis had logged a few but Amanda was the most dedicated to the research and usually insisted on collecting the data herself. In Colby's opinion, Amanda would make a good Pokémon professor or someone who studied the nature. She was kind, gentle, and cared a lot about the Pokémon. These qualities were clearly shown with her own Pokémon that she cared for and loved more than anything in the world.

Colby reached down and scratched little Nicksy's in between the ears. "Murr, murr," he mumbled, leaning into her leg.

He had been in his Poke Ball most of the day and Colby decided that he may have been getting a bit stuffy, so decided to let him out. Mara was also by her other leg and seemed to tone it down a bit since the first time that they met. The Oddish seemed to n0tice that she was being watched and looked up at Colby with a questioning look on her face.

"Hello Mara," Colby said, petting the fuzzy green leaves on her head.

Mara muttered something and leaned back against Colby's leg to take a nap.

"Your Pokémon are really close to you," Josh muttered.

Startled, Colby looked up and saw Josh standing a few feet away with Mr. Mime and Slowbro standing beside him, looking bored. She hadn't heard them come up since she had been focused on her thoughts.

"Oh…yeah I try to take good care of the gang," Colby smiled, looking between the sleeping Mara and Nicksy who was dozing.

Josh nodded, looking at his two Pokémon and then at Ellis and Amanda who were logging a group of Budew a couple yards away.

"Didn't you have an Abra?" Colby asked, glancing at his Pokémon.

Josh held out a Poke Ball, "He's in here."

"You know…that was pretty nice of you to take that Wailord," Colby said, looking at him.

Josh gave her a glance but then shot his eyes to the ground shuffling his feet uncomfortably.

"Yeah…I guess…whatever," Josh stuttered, seeming not to know how to take a compliment.

"Hey guys! I saw a Stantler run into the forest over there so Ellis and I are going to go find it! It needs to be logged," Amanda said, running up to Colby and Josh, breathless.

"Okay, we'll be here if you need us," Colby told her, petting Nicksy who had now invaded her lap, napping.

Amanda gave her a smile and bounded off into the forest with Ellis hard on her heals, going after the Stantler.

"She's really caught up in the logging project for Professor Daunte. In my opinion she would make a good scientist," Colby said, making conversation.

Josh nodded agreement, "I agree with you. She is very dedicated to collecting the information. Speaking of scientists, my mom used to be one."

"Really? Who does she work for?" Colby asked, interested in getting any information about his parents.

Maybe somehow this would help her fit together the pieces of the puzzle that was his dad.

"I…I don't know that. She said she did something with genes, but has never mentioned who she worked for… At the moment she is in between jobs," Josh said, puzzlement clouding his face.

Hm…that was odd. Why wouldn't she tell him who she worked for? It's not like it would be a secret or anything.

"Huh…well, I think Amanda would make a good scientist. Maybe when we return to Ft. Jonova we can recommend to Daunte to possibly take her as an apprentice," Colby suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Josh told her, watching the pack of Budew socialize a few yards away.

Randomly thoughts floated through Colby's head. Everything from her visions, The Dragon Trio, to Josh's situation just seemed to invade everything making her mind a jumble.

"Josh…what if we could find Dusty?" Josh looked at her, not expecting the question

He opened his mouth but no words came out and looked away again.

"I don't know…He's gone…I-I…" He stuttered, words not flowing easily.

"What if he is still alive somewhere?" Colby said, threading her thoughts to words.

Josh's brow furrowed in thought, "I don't know…It's been almost a year now since he disappeared. We…we could try."

Colby smiled, "It's not like I'm a detective or anything…but I have a feeling you and Dusty were pretty close."

Josh looked at her, sadness in his eyes but not saying anything for a while. "He was like…like the father I never had. He taught me all that I know, and taught me to appreciate Pokémon. To care for them when they are in need…and to help them even when I don't want to. Dusty was my best friend," Josh whispered, sadness filling his words.

Colby felt a pang of sympathy for him, "I'm sorry... We will find him. Is that why you took the Wailord?"

Josh nodded, "I know that would be what Dusty would have wanted me to do. I made him a promise, and I'm not going to break it."

"Hey guys! Look what we found!" Amanda called her and Ellis bounding up to them with Pokémon in each of their hands.

Ellis was holding a Charmander and Amanda was holding an adorable Eevee. Josh cracked a half smile, "Looks like you two found yourselves your next Pokémon."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Sorry I haven't posted a new chapter for this last week and a half guys. I've had a relative visit so I was busy with family and stuff. I am back and ready to kick out some more chapters for your enjoyment. :) Wow...that Wailord XD That was a late night of planning with Panda and we accidently woke up the family with our fits of laughter from deciding that Wailord was going to be on Josh's team. We were sooo close to picking Miltank (bahahahah XD) but then the suggestion of Wailord came up and we simply couldn't resist. :) Hope you enjoyed! Leave your comments in a review pretty please :P<br>**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

"Oh shut up Ellis! I was telling the story," Amanda laughed stroking the newly found friend, Eevee that was stretched out in a slumber on her lap.

They were all sitting in the middle of the forest at dusk, a little past where they had found the two new Pokémon. Ellis's Charmander, Charlie, had made them a toasty fire from the couple logs Josh and Colby had gathered earlier.

Colby rolled her eyes at Ellis who was making weird faces at Josh (who was turned around, looking the opposite way. If he did turn around, Ellis would be a dead man) and lay back against the tree that she was leaning on.

"Not trying to interrupt your story Amanda, but Charlie the Charmander is very original Ellis," Colby laughed, pushing the blonde hair out of her eyes.

Ellis stopped mocking Josh and sent some faces her way. He could be so immature sometimes.

"Why thank you," Ellis said, looking smug and accepting her compliment.

Speaking of Charlie, he seemed to be having fun chasing Citrus around the fire… Colby didn't even know for how long now. Certainly the little Pokémon had to be getting dizzy…shouldn't they? Colby shrugged at her own thoughts and tried not to disturb Nicksy and Mara who were yet again crashed on her lap, sawing logs like there was no tomorrow.

"Is it okay if I finish my story now, _Ellis_?" Amanda asked, giving him a glare.

"Of course your bossiness!" Ellis snickered, trying to grab Charlie's tale as he went around in circles, still failing to catch Citrus.

Amanda cleared her throat, "Thank you your greenness. As I was saying, Rain here," Amanda motioned toward the Eevee on her lap, "was just sitting on a rock looking down at Charlie. Actually, Ellis found Charlie first then Charlie found Rain. The poor girl was just sitting there, looking gloomy and holding this," Amanda finished, holding out an aqua blue stone of some type.

It almost looked like bubbles were solidified inside of the stone. Could it be a water stone? Evolutionary stones are usually pretty rare, or they were in Hecate. Rain was holding the water stone? Was that a sign that she wanted to evolve into a Vaporeon? Or was it just by accident? That it was merely an accident didn't seem very probable to Colby…but who knows.

"So you're going to evolve her into a Vaporeon?" Josh asked, turning back around to face everyone.

He was sitting on his cloak and wearing the usual black Guns 'N' Roses t-shirt along with his black jeans. Mr. Mime was out of his Poke Ball and sat rigidly beside his owner, but not to close. At least Josh wasn't ignoring them anymore…or being as rude. Every once in a while though, he would snap at one of them or growl at Ellis (thank the Stellar Spirits not literally…because that would just be weird) but not as often as before.

Maybe, just maybe, he was beginning to soften up. Hopefully his friends had started to grow on him and he'd realized they weren't there to put his tough guy image to shame…though Ellis was a bit of a sissy some times. Colby couldn't ever see him being a big fuzz ball…but maybe a bit nicer and a bit less distant.

"Yeah, I suppose… I mean if that's what she wants. I won't do it now though. Give the girl some time to get used to me first-"

As if right on cue, the Eevee arose from her slumber and looked Amanda directly in the eyes. Glancing directly at the water stone Rain gave Amanda's hand a nudge and stood up. Colby hadn't seen this kind of behavior in a Pokémon…but then again she'd never had an Eevee or a Pokémon that needed an evolutionary stone to evolve. Maybe it was normal behavior, maybe not. Rain could be just a smart Pokémon that knew when it needed to evolve.

"I think she's had enough time," Josh commented, also watching the behavior with as much interest as he could manage…this being a little more than his usual unsmiling, emotionless, and blank expression.

Amanda looked down at the Eevee through her glasses and they seemed to connect.

"Are you ready to evolve, girl?" Amanda whispered.

As if the Pokémon had understood, she bobbed her head.

"I'll take that as a yes," Ellis chuckled, recalling Charlie who was now walking like a drunk from all these circles Citrus was running around him.

Citrus started towards Josh again with a bright look on his face.

"Oh Great Stellar Spirits, no…not again," Josh growled.

Citrus stopped, giving him a huffy look and shot his nose up in the air, turning back towards Amanda with a noise of irritation. Colby suppressed a laugh and turned her attention back to Amanda and Rain.

Amanda had now set the stone down in front of Rain, keeping careful watch on her as she nudged it attentively with her nose. Closing her eyes slowly, nose pressed to the stone, Rain relaxed.

Suddenly, as if someone had tazed her, Rain's body was overcome by a huge shock. Her eyes widened and her form began to shimmer as the change was taking place. Slowly Rain's body began to change and she squeezed her eyes shut as her body morphed into the shape of her evolved form, Vaporeon.

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as the shimmering stopped, and Rain appeared as a sleek Vaporeon. Her skin had now changed from fluffy brown to a sleek, aquamarine blue fur. Her head was now framed in a white ring with fishlike webbing on its ears. Blue ridges ran along her back and all the way down to her tail fin. Rain looked elated and immediately charged into Amanda's arms, almost knocking the poor girl over.

"Oh Rain! You're beautiful!" Amanda praised, glowing with pride.

Josh stood up along with Mr. Mime, giving Amanda and Rain a glance (Colby could tell he was almost smiling. He would have to crack one day!). "Not bad," Josh said simply. He gave Ellis a frown and Colby a nod before disappearing into the dark night with Mr. Mime bringing up the rear. Amanda seemed to be beaming from head to toe and was hugging Rain with all her might. "Wonderful job Amanda! You handled that just like a pro," Ellis congratulated, giving her a warm smile.

"Thanks! You really think so?" Amanda gushed, smiling.

"Yeah! You did awesome!" Colby added, giving her a small smile.

"Thanks you guys, that really means a lot," Amanda smiled.

Colby nudged Ellis to the left of her.

"What?" He asked, confusion clouding his blue eyes.

"Nothing…just wondering if you wanted to bring Emmera out to meet Rain…after all, they are both Eeveelutions," Colby suggested.

"Oh! Sure," he replied, digging through his button covered knapsack for her Poke Ball.

Finding it, after digging to the bottom, he tossed it up in the air. Out came Emmera, landing gracefully and in her full Leafeon smoothness. Emmera almost immediately noticed Rain and padded over to investigate this new edition to the party. Sniffing each other with curiosity, they seemed to get along well for the first meeting.

"Glad no fights have broken out at this point in the journey. Thank the Stellar Spirits everyone has gotten along," Ellis pointed out.

In that instance they were very fortunate. Colby had heard stories of trainers that had Pokémon on their team that didn't get along well. One thing lead to another and the trainer couldn't keep a handle on it. That person was then forced to disband his or her team because of the internal conflict. They were truly lucky in that retrospect.

"That's for sure. The gang gets along well," Amanda grinned, watching Emmera and Rain with curiosity from the other side of Colby.

Ellis yawned and looked a bit sleepy, "Well, I'm bushed everyone. I'm going to hit the sack."

Colby gave him a nod, "Actually, I'm a bit tired to Amanda. I'm with Ellis, let's get some sleep."

Amanda looked around, "What about Josh?"

"Who cares," Ellis muttered, rolling over in his sleeping back.

Colby nudged him with her foot.

"He'll eventually come back. I wouldn't worry," Colby assured her, crawling into her warm, dark blue sleeping bag.

Amanda nodded, calling Rain into her Poke Ball and crawling down into her lime green sleeping bag. Colby curled up inside her sleeping bag and closed her eyes; sleep almost instantly came over her in a wave of soothing darkness…

* * *

><p><em>For the third (or was it fourth?) time, the salt smell filled Colby's nostrils. Just like the last few times, she was laying on her back on a huge grassy escarpment which was facing an endless, aquamarine ocean. Standing up, she brushed herself off and floated there, looking around. Faye was nowhere to be seen and nor was Giratina…how strange. <em>

"_Behind you child," a weak, whispery voice said. _

_Colby turned around and came face to face with an almost fully transparent Faye. The transparency was much more noticeable than last time and she physically looked weaker. Her eyes seemed to have circles under them and her hair didn't have its usual shine. Colby set her jaw and looked her straight in the eyes. She had to know what was going on. _

"_Faye, what's wrong? I have to know…" Colby said firmly. _

_Faye shot her eyes to the ground and seemed uncomfortable at the question. Sighing deeply, she shook her head slowly. _

"_I'm dying," she bluntly said. _

_The answer startled Colby…could Stellar Spirits die? She hadn't ever heard of it… _

"_Yes, Stellar Spirits can die, though it is much more complicated than human death. We don't just simply die and leave our body. We get faded…and faded until eventually we just disappear forever," she explained grimly. _

_Faye couldn't die! Well…she could, but then who was going to fight Scar? Who was going to permanently defeat him? _

"_But, before I fade, I have more to tell you. Though this time it's not in the form of a vision in the Distortion World because I am too weak to conjure that. That's also a part of dying, our energy gets sapped. When we use the energy for things such as this it isn't regenerated by our bodies like it was when we weren't to the end of our life cycle," Faye told her. _

"_Oh," Colby answered simply. _

_This could potentially be very bad…she just had an odd feeling about what was coming next. _

"_Anyway, I've showed you The Great Battle, the split between the dimensions, and the legendaries version of The Great Battle. That is all the history for now, so let's move onto the future so to speak," Faye said. _

_Colby nodded and tried to listen carefully…since her voice was a bit raspy. _

"_As you know, I am weakening and could fade at any time. There is so much I would like to tell you, but for time's sake I will just cut to the basics. There is a prophecy…well, not exactly a prophecy, but an implication of future events kind of like a fortune teller. I don't know if you remember but when you were on the Nighthawk you had a dream. It was about reoccurring history, which is what I see is going to happen. But for this Great Battle…I will not be there to fight," Faye explained. _

_What did she mean she wouldn't be there to fight? If she couldn't, who would? Was she suggesting that Colby fight Scar? _

"_If you can't, who can?" Colby asked. _

_Faye looked up at her, "That is one of your responsibilities now. You must find the correct one to fight. Try and remember that dream you had, the opponent of Scar. What did they look like? What was their nature? You have to make that decision and I know you will find the correct person," Faye answered. _

_Colby merely nodded, to stunned at her new task to speak. Or one of them that is… _

"_Now, you can't do this alone. Remember when I said I took one last aim at Scar? Exhuming most of my energy? That energy turned into a small ball and solidified. If you can find this…then you will have the power that I once had and will be able to defeat Scar once and for all. I am unsure where it got off to but I know it's somewhere in crater that was once Aysgarth." _

_Colby's head was spinning about a thousand miles an hour. She was supposed to do all this? By herself? It was almost too much… Faye had more faith in her than she had in herself. _

"_If the correct person touches that orb, the power will be given to them and they can defeat my nemesis once and for all," she concluded. "Is Scar weakening to?" Colby asked. _

_Faye shook her head, "No…he has gotten his power back, though it was through the help of one of great evil. That is all I can tell you on that matter because some things you need to experience and learn for yourself," Faye whispered._

_Colby nodded and got ready for the next part of her explanation. _

_Taking a deep breath, Faye continued, "As I said…I have a feeling that history is going to repeat itself. The destruction will once again come upon Aurora but this time there could be no one to stop the eternal darkness that will come over the land. Scar will rule and Giratina will merge the dimensions again. This time, permanently, unless you can stop him. I know this seems like a lot to ask but you are greater than you think Colby. Dark times are coming, but I believe if you can find the right person and can hold your ground that Aurora will be safe for many millenniums to come," Faye told her, a serious look in her eyes. _

_Colby's mouth almost dropped to the ground. Could she really be that special? Did the fate of Aurora now rest on her shoulders? _

"_It will be a while before the next vision…I am weakening fast," Faye told her, looking tired. _

"_Farewell child, and remember you are going to be great. You are going to save the region from eternal darkness." _

_Just like that, Colby's vision faded to black and a fitful sleep consumed her. _

* * *

><p>Surprisingly Colby slept soundly the rest of the night and was the last one up which was very rare. She opened her eyes to the sounds of everyone packing their stuff, probably getting ready to go. Sitting up in her sleeping bag she rubbed her eyes.<p>

"Good morning sleepy head!" Ellis grinned, helping Amanda roll up her lime green sleeping bag.

She gave Ellis a half smile, "Yep! A rare occurrence, but I did sleep in today. Normally you're the one sleeping till noon Ellis."

Amanda laughed, "Him and his late night parties!"

Ellis chuckled, "That's me. Late night parties all the time."

Climbing out of the sleeping bag, Colby tried to keep the vision from last night at bay… She wanted to have a good day today and that stress wasn't helping. She would deal with it tonight. Ellis moved over to Colby and helped her roll up her sleeping bag (since it was usually a two person job). Muttering her thanks to him, Colby finished cleaning up her stuff and tossed Nicksy's Poke Ball in the air.

He gracefully landed with a murr and sat down to eat the Pokémon food that Amanda was feeding everyone's Pokémon now. Except for Josh's because he was still nowhere to be seen, but that wasn't a surprise. Well…they just hoped he didn't get kidnapped or something. Colby couldn't imagine Josh being kidnapped though since he would kick the crap out of everyone who would try. Maybe just glare at them…

Sitting down beside Amanda and Ellis, Colby watched the Pokémon chew on the little brown pellets that Amanda had put out for them. The whole gang was here eating together and seemed to be very content with each other's company.

"Do you think we'll reach Sanville today?" Amanda asked, pushing her glasses up since they were always being pesky, falling down on her nose.

Ellis shrugged, "Well if we don't get going pretty soon Josh is going to be going to Sanville on the back of his Wailord."

"I am going _nowhere_ on the back of that Wailord," Josh said, leaning against a tree to their right.

Speaking of the devil! With his usual blank expression, Josh starred at them as if wondering what they do next.

"When did you get here?" Amanda asked, surprised that he magically appeared.

Josh pulled his black and green cloak around him, looking at her.

"Just now. Why?"

"We were just wondering if you got eaten by an Ivysaur or something," Colby told him, smirking.

Josh shot her a look and sighed, "No…I was just having my alone time."

"Oh I'll bet you were," Ellis retorted.

"I'll bet he was plotting with Riley," Ellis then whispered in her ear.

Colby rolled her eyes and petted Nicksy. Ellis was so paranoid sometimes, honestly.

"Are we ready to go now? Or does snot brain need to graze?" Josh sneered.

Ellis was about to open his mouth for what would surely be a failure of a retort, but Colby silenced him.

"Can we _please_ have a day where everyone is nice to everyone? Just one day? Amanda and I are being mentally worn out by all your pointless bickering! Have I not explained this before? We are supposed to be friends that support and help each other. Not criticize and insult each other," Colby told them in a firm voice.

Josh just turned away, not listening to her as usual and Ellis just looked irritated.

"Let's just get going before they kill each other," Amanda sighed, picking up the empty bowls and setting Citrus on her shoulder like he loved.

Rain yawned and rubbed her tail against Amanda's leg lovingly, ready to go. Colby picked up Mara, holding her in her arms while Nicksy insisted on riding on Colby's knapsack. Good thing he wasn't too heavy since her backpack was already a thousand pounds.

Zero trotted ahead of Amanda as she began walking with Rain in the rear. Ellis recalled Charlie and let Emmera trot beside him since she seemed eager for some fresh air.

As usual, Josh's Pokémon were put up and he followed beside Amanda and Colby wordlessly with his hands deep in the pockets of his trench coat like cloak.

They continued on their way with the tree's seeming to thin as the jungle began to fade into flat, grass dotted land. They made small conversation, but Josh mostly kept to himself. By the middle of the afternoon everyone needed a break (since the temperature seemed to sky rocket in just a few miles) when Ellis pointed out a dot on the horizon.

"Hey guys! Look! It's Sanville!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry guys that I haven't posted a chapter in what seems like FOREVER. I've been pretty busy lately and so yeah xD I know that isn't an excuse. Well don't worry, I'm back now and am ready for some gym battle action, what about you? :) That's what I thought! Until next time!**

**Please leave your comments in a review! I would love to hear from you! **

**W-what's that Riley…? … Oh! Riley told me to add if you're a single girl he would love to date you! (Have fun with that O.O) ha ha XD See ya guys!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

"Are you ever going to take off that cloak Josh? According to my MID it's ninety degrees..." Ellis told Josh as they walked.

He was right because as they approached Sanville and the trees started to clear it seemed to heat everything up like an oven. Colby had to take off her cloak since it was getting a bit toasty…but with black jeans and a dark blue t-shirt it wasn't exactly the coolest walk.

Josh though seemed perfectly content in his long, black and green trench coat which had to be frying him like a pancake. Even yet under his all black ensemble, he had on his black guns and roses t-shirt. Lovely desert clothing! Colby surely wished she had lighter colored t-shirts and jeans, but oh well.

Josh looked over at Ellis with a careless look and looked back at the dusty road which leads to Sanville in a mile or so.

"I don't care. You all are a bunch of wusses. I'm doing just fine," Josh replied.

Colby rolled her eyes and recalled Mara (who seemed to be getting to hot in her arms). Josh was just being difficult and everyone knew that. As the temperature would shoot up past Sanville he would eventually crack. Colby looked around, putting her hand over her eyes to shield them from the beating sun and saw pretty much nothing but a few shrubs along with some rather small trees.

One thing that never ceased to amaze her was the way the landscape could change so quickly in Aurora. One day you could be in a lush forest and the next onto barren plains. It got a bit confusing sometimes…but you had to be prepared for anything as a trainer. It truly was an unpredictable journey. "Yeah, you just wait. It will get hotter because after Sanville the desert gets worse," Ellis told him.

"You'll be sad you wore such dark clothing!" Amanda added, doing alright in her cargo pants and t-shirt (don't forget the Unknown cap).

"What about her? Why not harass Colby? I'm minding my own business for once!" Josh retorted, gesturing toward Colby on the other side of Ellis.

Colby shot him a glare and patted her brown knapsack that the cloak was stuffed in.

"She actually has some brains not to fry herself with heatstroke and take off the stupid coat!" Amanda told him looking amused.

Josh looked irritated, "I don't care! It's my choice and I'm just fine like this."

He just wanted to be difficult.

"Oh whatever, this is just useless bickering. On the bright side, we are almost to Sanville," Colby told them, gesturing ahead.

They had begun to pass a few out skirting houses and a farm or two as they entered the suburbs. Not many Pokémon roamed around here except for the occasional desert one. Amanda and Colby had logged a couple Cacturne that were roaming around but other than that not much was out in the heat of the desert day. Glancing down at Nicksy, who was walking beside her, he seemed content in the hot weather.

After all, he was part fire type and so he usually thrived in the hot air. Charlie was also looking content…hanging on Ellis's leg as he walked. That was particularly strange…but Colby just giggled and turned back to Nicksy.

"Hey Josh, why not get Subway out and we can just ride him into Sanville!" Amanda said, giggling.

Josh looked confused, "Subway? What the hell? You think I have a sandwich shop in my damn pockets?"

Ellis blinked and Colby was suppressing laughter.

"No, not that kind of Subway! I mean your Wailord, Subway," Amanda told him, petting Citrus who was napping in the sun on her backpack.

"You named his Wailord Subway?" Colby laughed.

Amanda nodded, "Yep! His name is Subway."

"Well that's completely random…but I like it!" Ellis agreed, giving Amanda a high five.

Josh seemed to be glaring at an unknown spot on the horizon and had his hands stuffed down in his pockets (probably looking for a sandwich). His frown didn't suggest he approved with this name.

"What do you think Josh?" Colby asked, prompting some kind of comment from him on the name suggestion.

Josh fixed his blank gaze on them, "No."

Amanda looked disappointed, "Why? It would be a neat name for a Wailord!" "You're going to keep bugging me aren't you if I don't say yes?" Josh sighed, putting an ear bud in his ear.

Amanda smiled, "Yes."

"Fine, name the beast Subway. I don't care. Just leave me the hell alone."

Amanda turned to Colby and grinned. Yay! Subway is the Wailord's name! Josh's music was blasting…so loud that everyone was able to hear it. He seemed to be mouthing the words and doing some sort of air guitar.

"I'll bet he couldn't hear us if screamed rude insults at him," Ellis smirked, getting ideas.

Amanda rolled her eyes, "Not a good idea Ellis. The heat seems to be getting to him though he isn't admitting it. We don't want you killed."

Colby nodded, "We don't need our little carrot friend left on the dusty road to Sanville and left for the Trapinch to munch on."

Ellis laughed, "That wouldn't be good…hey, what's that?"

Ellis pointed up ahead where some people seemed to be surrounding something. Squinting her eyes, Colby saw that the circle was wearing…blue and purple uniforms…she'd seen those somewhere before.

"Its Team Lunar grunts!" Amanda exclaimed.

That's where Colby had seen those unmistakable articles of clothing before! That one brown headed asshole was wearing it when he tried to steal their Pokémon. Josh seemed to notice it to and paused his music, glaring in that general direction. God forbid his enemy (the brown headed guy again) would be there…

Of course that's how it would happen. They were almost to Sanville and then these punks stall their progress. Colby sighed, that's always how it works. Getting closer, Colby noticed that they were surrounding a little boy and a little girl along with their Pokémon.

"We've got to help them! They are just kids," Amanda whispered, since they weren't but a hundred feet from the incident.

Amazingly they grunts in purple and blue uniform didn't notice them yet. Josh seemed to stiffen at the word kids, probably because of the kindergarteners that he hated so much. Noticing it, Amanda gave him a glare. "They are trying to take _children's_ Pokémon. Are you just going to stand by and let them do that Josh? Even if you do hate kindergarteners…" Colby said, backing Amanda up.

Josh clenched his jaw…but shook his head. At least he was getting better with his heartlessness that he seemed to have before. Colby nudged Nicksy who seemed to understand and kept his gaze focused on the people that they were creeping up on.

"Give us your Pokémon, now. If you don't, bad things will happen to you and your little sister here," one blonde guy in a purple Team Lunar uniform growled to the little boy in the green t-shirt.

This little kid couldn't have been more than eleven and his little sister looked around six. The little boy looked angry and stood in front of his sister protectively.

"No! You can't have our Pokémon. Our big brother just gave Bellsprout and Tepig to us!" The boy protested, gesturing to the two small Pokémon that his sister was cradling with tears in her big eyes.

"We don't care about your silly family stories, nor are we afraid to take Pokémon from babies," a girl grunt in a blue uniform retorted.

"We aren't babies!" The little girl whimpered, clutching the Pokémon with all her might.

Cold laughter erupted from the four grunts surrounding them. "So is this what Team Lunar has come to? Stealing Pokémon from children? How cheap," Colby said loudly, grabbing the attention of the party of grunts.

They snapped their heads in her direction, looking surprised.

"Oh it's you four pests again. Coming back for more?" The brown headed guy stepped out from behind the blonde grunt and the black headed girl grunt.

The other grunt flanked the girl…with a creepy scar down the side of his face.

"If I do recall correctly, we kicked your ass last time," Josh growled.

The grunt smirked, "That was when I had weak Pokémon. I was just delivering a shipment back to HQ. Now, either you four pixies can move along nicely like good little boys and girls or we can cart you all back to HQ in body bags. This is an important mission and we can't have you idiots messing it up."

The scarred grunt stepped up beside him. He looked around twenty and had muscles bigger than anyone Colby had ever seen. Could you say body guard that could kill them all with a flick of his pinky?

"This should be some easy training, Ronan," the girl grunt smirked.

So that was his name! Needed a name to put on the headstone when Josh killed him… Ronan nodded, giving the four an irritated stare.

"We wouldn't even think of surrendering. Bring it on, because it's going to be an easy win like last time," Josh hissed, getting out a Poke Ball.

Emmera, Charlie, Zero and Nicksy were already ready, poised for attack in front of their trainers. Ronan laughed (somewhat evilly) and grabbed three Poke Balls from his back pocket. The three grunts did the same and Ronan whispered something to them before stepping back behind them. They chucked the three Poke Balls into the air and out popped (who would have guessed) three Lunatones.

These didn't seem to be too powerful…maybe level twenty, but there were three of them and five Pokémon of theirs (including Josh's Mr. Mime). But Colby was sure they had to have at least three each. Yay! They got to fight nine Lunatones!

"Lunatones, use tackle!" The scarred grunt called out to all three of them.

Each of the Lunatones responded and hit Nicksy, Emmera, and Charlie with a tackle. That's when everything broke loose, as in everyone was calling out so many attacks left and right it just became a huge jumble.

"Nicksy! Use shadow ball!"

"Emmera! Dodge!"

"Lunatone! Confusion"

"Mr. Mime, double slap!"

Dust was flying everywhere and attacks were being used all over the place. Amanda and Ellis were battling one Lunatone that belonged to scar face. Colby had the middle one, belonging to the girl grunt and Josh was fighting the blonde's.

"Nic! Tackle!" Colby called as he shook off confusion.

He easily got up and tackled the Lunatone. Spend from the heavy battle, it feinted and the girl recalled it. Throwing out another Poke Ball, she called out another Lunatone. Round two began and Nicksy was victorious again, downing this lower leveled one easily.

Josh seemed to be finishing off the blonde's Lunatone with confusion. Ellis and Amanda had the two of scar faces beaten and were glaring at Ronan. The last Lunatone feinted and everyone was just in a stare down. Ronan pushed his team mates aside and stood glaring at them.

"This isn't over yet. Go Sneasel!" Ronan chucked his Poke Ball and out popped a nasty looking Sneasel.

He had a huge scar down his face, across one his missing eye, and had his lip curled in a sneer. That Pokémon looked like he had been through some bad stuff. The wounds looked fairly fresh and the Pokémon seemed to be fighting off pain from his missing eye and deeply scratched face.

"That Pokémon needs to go to the doctor! Immediately," Amanda yelled, horrified by the sight.

Ronan laughed (evilly this time) and kicked the Sneasel in the ribs which caused it to yelp in pain. A flare of anger sparked inside Colby. How could he do that? That poor Pokémon!

"Stop it! Stop it! Can't you see he's hurt badly?" Amanda cried, looking close to tears.

The grunts looked to be enjoying this and Ronan ignored her pleas.

"He needs to learn to get stronger. Weak Pokémon are useless," Ronan snapped, narrowing his eyes.

Amanda looked furious, "The way to toughen them up is not by harming them! That will only impede the process! You have to care for them and train them in a humane manner if you want the best results!"

Ronan snorted, "Look at you. Thinking you're so smart. Well that always doesn't work because there are some special cases of weakness that have to be dealt with accordingly."

He gave the Sneasel a harsh look which caused it to shrink back. Josh looked murderous and Ellis was grinding his teeth together.

"You really are an asshole, you know that?" Josh growled, twitching with anger. Ronan gave him a smile, "Just doing my job gym leader. I've noticed you're excelling at yours to."

Josh looked close to punching him but restrained for once, taking notice of his back up. By no means was he chicken…but he wanted one on one with Ronan Colby guessed.

"Let's get on with this. Enough time is wasted already. Sneasel, quick attack," Ronan said, kicking the Pokémon onto the battle field.

Hesitantly Colby ordered Nicksy to use ember…best to put the little Pokémon out of its misery for now. Ellis added Charlie's ember and they had a huge wall of fire headed straight for the Sneasel. It looked scared but faced the flame easily and exploded through the middle, tackling Charlie. Amanda had refused to battle and was now comforting the brother and sister who had escaped the battle to hide in a nearby bush.

"Mr. Mime, confusion!" Josh shouted.

It obeyed and the confusion hit the Sneasel right off Charlie who got up easily. The Sneasel was walking around in a daze and Ronan was yelling some foul things at it.

"Finish it with tackle Nic!" Colby told him.

Nicksy hit it full on and it looked like it was seeing stars. Falling over, twitching, the Sneasel feinted.

"No! Sneasel! Get up you worthless Pokémon!" Ronan howled.

Seeing that it wasn't in fact going to get up, he kicked it so hard that Colby could hear the clear snap of one of Sneasel's ribs. It was unconscious but its body gave a shudder.

"Alright you asshole! You're done mistreating that Pokémon," Josh roared, advancing on Ronan with his fist poised.

Colby's eyes went wide and knowing this was going to turn out bad, ran out to drag him back. She was barely able to restrain him but smacked him to get him out of it.

"Josh! He's got body guards that will kill you! Stop," Colby hissed.

Josh looked extremely angry but seemed to cool down a bit. Facing Ronan, anger flooded his eyes as he looked back down at the crumpled Sneasel. "I'll make you a deal Ronan. I challenge you to a battle and if I win, Sneasel is mine," Josh snapped trying to keep his voice (and temper) level.

Ronan looked as if he was considering it and returned the hard glare. "And if I win?"

Josh sighed, looking at the ground before glancing back up solemnly.

"You get Mr. Mime."

* * *

><p>Colby gasped and gawked at Josh who looked perfectly serious.<p>

"Josh are you crazy? Putting one of your best Pokémon on the line for that abuser?" Amanda exclaimed, now back over here after checking on the kids that refused to come out of the bushes with their Pokémon.

"No, I'm not crazy. I'm going to end his Pokémon abusing on Sneasel and we're going to walk out of here. He isn't going to win," Josh replied calmly, standing next to Mr. Mime.

Ellis looked surprised but didn't say anything knowing that if he did it would probably result in some sort of yelling match aimed toward him.

"Well I guess we can't stop you if you're sure…" Colby said returning Amanda's nervous look.

"Ready for defeat gym leader?" Ronan called, stepping out from his group of grunts who also looked overly confident.

Josh sighed deeply and nodded, getting Mr. Mime ready for the fight. Amanda had moved the injured Sneasel off the battle field and was trying to revive him with some Pokémon food that she had in her bag. Colby stepped aside after muttering good luck to Josh and went to stand by Ellis who was hopefully out of the line of fire.

"Be ready to meet your match Ronan," Josh yelled, looking ready.

Ronan smirked, "We'll see."

Getting out a Poke Ball, he tossed it into the air. It clicked open to reveal a Duskull that looked pretty strong. Colby got out her Poke Log and quickly logged the Pokémon. Why not?

"Duskull, confuse ray," Ronan called.

The Pokémon obeyed, conjuring a ray of multicolored light and sending it straight toward Mr. Mime. Josh made no attempt for Mr. Mime to dodge it and let it head straight on toward the psychic Pokémon.

"Dodge," Josh ordered simply.

Just before the beam hit, Mr. Mime dodge it expertly, looking strong. Ronan's lip twitched in annoyance but he quickly called out a counter attack of pursuit.

"Mime, confusion."

Mr. Mime executed the confusion but in the process getting hit by the pursuit which he shook off.

This continued for a few more moves before both of the Pokémon looked to be getting winded.

"Shadow sneak!" Ronan told Duskull.

It executed the move, hitting Mr. Mime again. He looked a bit dazed and concern flashed in Josh's eyes. Was he going to lose? Colby's breath caught in her throat…he couldn't lose! Mr. Mime couldn't go to Ronan! That would be horrible for the Pokémon.

"Mr. Mime! Snap out of it and use confusion!" Josh prompted, looking a bit flustered as Ronan prepared for another lashing out of Duskull.

Mr. Mime looked a bit confused as he tried to shake off the attack but it wasn't working to well. Ronan's smile was so huge and full of malice that Colby almost wanted to hide behind Ellis. Biting her lip, she prayed that Mr. Mime would snap out of it…quick!

"Duskull, let's finish this with confuse ray," Ronan growled.

Josh looked absolutely desperate now and fear actually was present on his face. This was extremely rare…and almost frightening. Duskull prepared the confusion ray with extreme power as the white sphere conjured and he aimed. Colby's eyes went wide as Duskull shot the sphere directly at Mr. Mime, almost as if everything had gone in slow motion.

"Mime! No!" Josh yelled.

From beside Josh something cracked open and he noticed a Poke Ball had flown out of his pocket.

"Maaa!"

Something shouted as it appeared from the Poke Ball. Subway popped out at just the right time and seemed to instantly dislike the Team Lunar grunts. With almost perfect timing, Mime was able to just barely dodge the confusion. Josh looked up at his savior, the forty feet tall Subway with surprise.

"Maaaa!" It fog horn wailed, almost glaring down at Ronan.

Colby's eyes almost popped out of her head at what happened next… Subway's body shuddered as it prepared for an attack. Then all at once Subway let loose a giant stream of water from its mouth. He was using a full blast water gun…right on the Team Lunar grunts.

Just before the blast of water hit him, Ronan let out a little squeak and then was immersed by water. Quite finished, Subway sort of hiccupped and flapped its flippers around happily as it had defeated its predators (mostly threats to Josh). The four grunts were standing there looking shocked, extremely stiff, and dripping wet.

Ronan looked like he was about to lose his temper and spat some water out of his mouth, coughing violently. Colby didn't even see the Duskull anymore…who knew where it went.

"Did that thing just, _spit on us_?" The girl grunt squeaked.

Ronan paid her no attention but just glared furiously up at the huge Pokémon. It seemed to glare right back as it let out a sprinkler like water spout from its blow hole at the top of its head. Josh looked smug and gave Ellis and Colby a real smile…that was unexpected.

Rain seemed to come down like a sprinkler and Ellis didn't seem to be able to resist the temptation to jump around in the rain. Ronan looked like he was about to boil over and proceeded to take off his soaking Team Lunar shirt to wring it out. Just as he got it over his head their peace (if you could call it that…) was interrupted by a whoop.

Through the sprinkler someone with stark white skin ran through the middle of them all swinging his black t-shirt over his head like a lasso. Colby recognized the flaming red hair instantly and groaned at the sight. Riley was running around, weaving through everyone with his t-shirt flapping around in the wetness.

His stark white skin looked almost whiter than paper…and looked sort of an unhealthy color. Amanda looked mortified at watched him with a dumbfounded expression. Josh was looking at him with a blank expression and Ellis seemed as green as his hair.

Riley stopped and took notice of Ronan who was looking at him weirdly, holding his half wrung out shirt.

Riley grinned devilishly, seeming to get a light bulb over his head, "Did someone say naked sprinkler party?"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh my god XD this is so fun to write you guys and I hope you're enjoying this as much as I am. I have a poll set up on my profile that is for your favorite Pokémon Eternal Darkness character, so go take that if you'd like! Well anyways hope you liked as usual and I would love to hear from you! Just click the review button and let me know what you thought! See you next chapter! **

**By the way, if you were wondering. Ronan is pronounced: Row-nan.**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

"What? No Riley," Colby yelled.

He was standing there, wet from the sprinkler, between them and the Team Lunar grunts. His pale skin was almost…death pale and he was still swinging his shirt around like a lasso for a cowboy.

Riley glanced at Ronan and gave her smirking grin, "But Tootsie, what about him? He looked ready for a party-"

"No," Colby said firmly.

Ronan was now glaring at Riley, seeming to recognize them from the first time they all met.

"Oh, and who might this beautiful lady be?" Riley cooed, seeing the dark headed girl grunt.

He walked over to her, getting down on one knee and grabbing her hand. The girl looked uncomfortable and glanced at the other grunts for help. Scar face looked like he was going to murder Riley, and Ronan seemed disgusted by the behavior. The blonde was glaring up at Subway furiously, not paying any attention.

"What is your name beautiful?" Riley asked, kissing her hand.

The girl had her lip curled in disgust, "My name is Sarafine, and you'd better let go of my hand," Sarafine told him, trying to pull away.

"Why would I do that?" Riley muttered, looking into her eyes and seeming to have hearts radiating off of him.

"Because my boyfriend Monty is right there you pest," Sarafine hissed, nodding towards scar face.

Riley kept a hold of her hand and turned his head slowly to the right. Scar face, and all six feet of him, was standing there with his heavily muscled arms crossed over his chest. Riley blanched, giving him a nervous smile.

"Oh…I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding. I-I have a girlfriend anyway-" Riley said extremely quickly, patting Sarafine's hand and running over to Colby where he proceeded to hide behind her.

"You're such a wuss Riley Giaden," Colby hissed through gritted teeth.

Riley didn't say a thing, but peeked out from her shoulder blade, seeing the close was clear. Scar face's lip twitched in annoyance and shot Riley a death look. Riley came out and stood beside her, looking confident once again.

"I believe that is a battle. Josh has won and Sneasel is his," Amanda called to Ronan, who had put his shirt back on.

Ronan shot them a nasty look, "Fine. You can have that useless Pokémon. It's your baggage to carry around, not mine. But you mark my words you are going to wish you never brought out this stupid whale. You're going to pay for this."

Colby gave him a blank look that goes along with an empty threat. He had said the same thing last time and look what happened.

"Now get out of here," Ellis told him firmly.

Ronan growled with annoyance but recalled the Duskull that reappeared. Taking his team of soggy grunts, Ronan ran off behind a farm house and disappeared. Everyone exhaled a sigh of relief and looked up at Subway. "Maaaa!" He called, flapping his flippers around.

"I thought I would never say this…but thank you Subway. You saved Mr. Mime and Sneasel's lives," Josh told his Pokémon.

An actual compliment from Josh? This day was just full of surprises. "Maaaa!" Subway called happily, seeming to understand.

"Get a well deserved rest," Josh told him, recalling the huge Pokémon into the Poke Ball.

Josh rolled the Poke Ball around in his hand and smirked, putting it back in his pocket of which Subway resided.

"You two are now friends?" Colby asked, shoving Riley off her shoulder.

Josh hesitated, "I didn't say that…"

Colby rolled her eyes, hearing the uncertain tone in his voice.

"Sneasel won't wake up," Amanda told them sadly.

She was on her knees beside the Pokémon, trying desperately to revive it. Was it too late? Had they wasted too much time?

"I have a revive…" Someone said, coming out from the bush.

The little boy and his sister crept out and brought their two small Pokémon. He was holding a crystal shaped, tan object.

"Oh! That would be wonderful," Amanda smiled, taking the revive and giving it to Sneasel.

The Pokémon swallowed the medicine and seemed to flutter to life almost instantly. His eye opened the slightest and he held his side with one clawed hand, letting out a whimper.

"Josh, he's hurt really badly. We need to get him to Sanville to get healed," Amanda told him, sounding more and more like a doctor every day.

"Sanville doesn't have a Pokémon Center," the little boy told her.

"What do you mean it doesn't? Every town does," Ellis told him.

"Except Afron Village," Josh added with disdain in his voice. Ellis shot him a sour look.

"It doesn't have a Pokémon Center. For some reason they are late building one and construction is underway now. Our mother is an ex nurse from Johto, so maybe she can help you!" The little boy said proudly.

Amanda smiled, "Thank you! We'll follow you into town."

The little boy's sister smiled attentively up at Amanda and reached for the boy's hand which he took.

"My name is Nicolas and this is my sister Abbey. We just want to thank you for saving us."

"Any time, because it's our job to help fellow trainers in need," Ellis smiled.

Josh's lip twitched at the comment, probably not liking the idea of helping little kids all the time and he forced his face to be the normal blankness. Colby for one didn't mind helping others out. In the end it would work out well for everyone. She especially wouldn't mind rescuing kids from Team Loser…woops, Team Lunar.

Abbey smiles at them all, holding her Bellsprout tightly to her chest. Brown curls fall down her back with pretty green eyes to compliment the look. Nicolas has light brown hair and a paler version of his sister's eyes, definitely brother and sister.

"So…this means no party?" Riley asked, from where he has creeped up behind Amanda, trying to put his arm around her which she is feverishly batting away. Colby looked irritated, "No Riley, there was never a party in the first place. Subway was spraying Ronan and his gang of grunts to get out of here."

Riley looked dejected but perked up at the mention of Subway.

"We get Subway-" He started.

"My Wailord," Josh interjected, crossing his arms over his chest.

Riley's eyes bulged and his mouth practically dropped open.

"_You_ have a _Wailord_?" Riley squeaked.

Amanda pushed his arm off again and went to go stand by Colby and Josh, leaving Riley next to Ellis along with the two little kids and everyone's Pokémon. Colby shot Josh a smug look in which he returned, smirking.

"Who do you think that Wailord belonged to?" Ellis asked, probably wondering what was wrong with Riley.

"I figured it was Twix or Tootsie's," Riley told them still looking baffled.

"Why do you think Josh recalled it?" Amanda added.

Riley sighed, "I don't know, but that just shocks me that he would-"

"Own the biggest Pokémon?" Josh finished.

Riley nodded, inching away from Ellis like he had a disease or something. Sometimes the guys were so childish.

"It all worked out well in the end, so what does it matter?" Colby laughed.

She then glanced at Amanda who was looking around, fear sparking in her eyes. What could be wrong?

"Where are the kids?" She asked.

"Are you guys going to catch up? Sanville is just up ahead!" Abbey yelled to them, from the top of the hill where the two were already to the top.

Colby grinned at everyone, recalling her Pokémon and grabbing her knapsack where she stuffed the two Poke Balls in. Amanda recalled her three Pokémon and picked up Sneasel, struggling under its weight.

"Here, let me get that," Josh told her, taking the injured and very drowsy Pokémon from her arms.

"It's now my Pokémon so I'm responsible for it," Josh added, cradling the Pokémon in his arms.

"Sne…" The Sneasel murmured.

A smile played at Josh's mouth and he started to walk up the hill with everyone else. Ellis recalled Charlie and kept Emmera out who rubbed against his leg as he walked. Amanda was between Colby and Riley who yet again forced himself into her company. Riley was looking smug and nonchalantly draped his arm over her shoulder.

Amanda seemed tired of this and just tried to ignore it as he played with her brown hair that was falling over her shoulders.

"I've been thinking," he told her, trying unsuccessfully to be quiet.

"About what?" Amanda replied monotonously and trying to hide the irritation in her voice.

"You," Riley said, grinning devilishly.

Amanda sighed deeply and shoved him off, standing on the other side of Colby. Almost immediately Riley slid over closer to her.

"So…come here often?" He asked.

Colby rolled her eyes and kept going up the hill, engaging Amanda in a conversation of just small talk. Riley and Josh seemed to be doing the same while Ellis was trying not to step on Emmera who was constantly getting under his feet as they walked. The siblings had taken the lead, continuing down the hill and towards the city of Sanville which was really close.

All around it was like a sun baked desert, grass growing in little burnt clumps and even a few Cacturne to complete the picture. Some dust bunnies rolled around across the landscape as the hot wind blew, giving it the feeling of a true desert.

"You think this is hot? It gets worse after Sanville," Ellis told Amanda and Colby.

He was now holding Emmera and wincing in the middle day sun that was burning bright, cooking the landscape like an oven.

"Ellis Corona, navigator extraordinaire! All knowing of every terrain in Aurora," Amanda laughed.

Ellis grinned, "You know it! Actually, I know all this because I did a bunch of research on Aurora in hopes that I would find a group to travel with."

Colby returned his smile, "That you did Ellis that you did."

* * *

><p>They arrived in the heart of Sanville around three that afternoon, still following the siblings. The place wasn't near as big as Portsburg, which was huge, and didn't have as many people out in the middle of the day. Could you guess why? On one of the big signs the thermometer said 99 much to Colby (and her dark blue t-shirt's) dismay. She was baking practically! What about Josh though? He seemed to be forcing contentment in his black cloak. He was going to get major heatstroke if he wasn't careful.<p>

Colby sighed and looked around the city some more. They were passing medium sized, sandstone buildings that appeared to be apartments. All the houses were on the outskirts along with some small farms. What would grow in this weather was a mystery to her.

The cobblestone street was wide, sporting a few walkers and even fewer bikers or joggers. Still, there was a few that were hardcore, like an older guy running with his Hitmonlee down the sidewalk.

"We are almost there, just to the end of the street," Nicolas called, taking his sister's hand and swerving left to a small side street.

At the end of the street was a simple brick house that they were climbing up the stairs to. Everyone hurried to catch up to the kids who were knocking on the door. Glancing at Riley, Colby was glad that he had finally put his Riachu shirt on…because that was a bit disturbing. At least he had the basics of manners, kind of.

A young woman that seemed to be the spitting image of Abbey answered the door in an orange sundress with a white apron. She wiped her hands on a towel that she was holding and her eyes lit up when she saw the kids.

"Nicolas! Abbey! I'm so glad you two are back! I was getting worried," the woman exclaimed, grasping them in a huge hug.

"Mommie! It was so terrible, some people in purple uniforms tried to steal my Bellsprout," Abbey whimpered in her mom's shoulder.

"What? Baby are you alright? I told you not to go very far-" The mother told them, worry plastered on her face.

"Mommie, it's okay because they saved us," Abbey smiled, pointing at Colby and their group.

The mother looked at them from over her daughter's shoulder and a smile spread to her face.

"Did you protect my babies from Team Lunar?" The woman asked eyes bright. "Yes ma'am, it was no big deal," Amanda told her, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh! What is that you've got there? Is that Pokémon injured?" The woman asked, taking notice of the Sneasel in Josh's arms.

"Yeah, that's the thing…Nicolas and Abbey said you might be able to help since there is no Pokémon Center in Sanville…? He's horribly hurt," Ellis told her.

The mother picked up Abbey and motioned for them to come inside.

"Say no more! You saved my children from harm so the least I can do is help your Sneasel. Come in; come in, all of you. The house isn't very big but if you would like to sit in the living room while I get to work then be my guest," the mother said.

"Thank you," Josh muttered, everyone climbing up the steps and filing into the house which was rather small.

It was simple with wooden flooring and a small living room with a couple couches, a coffee table, book shelves, an end table, lamp, and a tan rug that covered the floor.

"You can just have a seat right there. It shouldn't take too long with Sneasel. My name is Sasha by the way," Sasha told them, ushering Josh into another room with the Sneasel.

Colby took a seat beside Ellis and Amanda on the couch, sandwiched between them both. Riley took a seat on the other couch, looking at them. Nicolas and Abbey came bouncing in, running through the house and into another room after one another, probably playing a game of some sort. A few moments of silence later, Josh came in and sat down beside Riley, looking perky. "Is she able to fix Sneasel up?" Amanda asked.

Josh nodded, "Yeah, she's bandaging his broken ribs now…"

Silence fell over the room and Colby looked at the floor, remembering the horrible scene of Ronan abusing Sneasel. It was a terrible sight to see, but at least they had rescued Sneasel from it. He was in good hands now.

"You ready to challenge the Sanville gym?" Riley asked, jerking everyone out of their thoughts.

"Yeah, I think we're pretty prepared," Amanda told him.

"His name is Smithers and he's a ground type. I beat him already, easy," Riley gloated, seeming proud.

How was he always one step ahead? It was mind boggling! For all they knew he could already be a member of the Elite!

"How Riley…? How are you always one step ahead of us?" Colby asked.

Riley winked, "That is for me to know, and you to never find out."

Colby sighed irritably, he was weird. Amanda rolled her eyes and Colby wouldn't have been the least bit surprised if she was thinking the same thing. "Hopefully we will head there after we get Sneasel fixed up!" Ellis added.

For once no one yelled at Ellis for talking! This could be a leap in the direction of positive. Colby's thoughts rambled as they made small talk, willing the time to pass and Sneasel to be okay. This reminded her of the time that Nicksy was getting healed by the nurse. That was just amazing that he had pulled through. But he'd made a full recovery and was kicking like never before. Nicksy was here to stay for a while hopefully.

After twenty or so minutes, Sasha came back out with a smile on her face, carrying Sneasel who was unconscious.

"He is perfectly fine now! I've bandaged the ribs and cleaned his eyes, with a bandage for that as well. The poor little guy, he's been through some stuff," Sasha told them, putting Sneasel in Josh's arms once again.

"Thank you so much! Sorry we can't stay but we have to go challenge the gym," Josh told her.

"You're very welcome. Thank you for saving my children again and have a safe trip!" Sasha said, watching them go down the stairs and into the street from the doorway. Colby and Amanda waved as they all continued on their way towards the gym.

* * *

><p>"It's on the right," Riley told them, gesturing to a big brick building on the corner.<p>

The sign in sandstone read 'Sanville Ground Gym' and was carved into the rock. The building was a round and dome shaped, seeming huge compared to Josh's Psychic gym…and his gym wasn't necessarily small either.

"Good luck, I've got to go girl watching. See you guys later," Riley told them, running off without failing to wink at Amanda.

She shuddered and rolled her eyes, seeming not surprised by this Rileyness anymore.

"Ready everyone?" Ellis asked a bright smile on his face.

Amanda turned her unknown cap to the side, "Always Ellis, let's go beat the Sanville ground type gym!"

"Uh…sorry to interrupt your little moment of jubilance…but Smithers is not here right now…" A tall, lanky boy with light blue hair said, coming out of the double doors in the gym.

"What do you mean? Where did he go?" Colby asked a bit startled by the stranger's random appearance.

The guy gave her a funny look, "He's in the mine…training like usual. Sorry, sometimes I forget that challengers wouldn't know this."

Josh looked irritated, "Where is the mine?"

The blue head guy pointed down to the end of the road where the cobble turned to dirt again was a clear trail towards…what looked like nowhere.

"I could take you there if you like, because it's just down the road. I was going to the mines anyways," the guy told them.

"Sure! That would be great thanks!" Amanda told him.

The guy smiled at her, "Anytime, my name is Jeremy. I'm Smithers trainee as of right now. Mostly I just try to keep him together because he is a mess. Always forgetting things and you know how that goes."

Everyone was beginning to walk to the end of the street and there was a pause before Jeremy looked a Josh with a quizzical look on his face.

"Aren't you psychic gym leader Josh Hershey from Ft. Jonova?" Jeremy asked.

"I was the gym leader. Obviously I'm not anymore," Josh snapped, always getting defensive about that subject.

Wait…his last name was Hershey? Colby couldn't help but giggle.

"Your last name…is Hershey?" Ellis asked, trying not to laugh.

"Shut the hell up Corona. You've got a nice last name as well," Josh retorted.

Obviously the heat was getting to him. Poor little Hershey will melt inside his black cloak of a wrapping. Ellis glowered and Jeremy seemed uncomfortable and not because of the heat.

"Guys…please," Colby told them, trying to cool tempers that seemed as hot as the blasted sun above them.

Josh said nothing but Ellis nodded very reluctantly. At least someone knew how to behave, jeez.

"We are almost here, it's just past this brush here-" Jeremy started but was interrupted by a boom.

A puff of smoke came up over the top of a hill that the mine resided in. "For heaven's sake! What did he do this time…I just left him for an hour!" Jeremy exclaimed, running towards a hole in the front of the hill which had to be the entrance.

Out ran a tan guy with sandy blonde hair wearing cargo pants and a grey tank top. He was coughing furiously from the amount of smoke pouring through the entrance.

"Smithers! Are you alright?" Jeremy called as Smithers approached.

Smithers coughed again and blinked the smoke from his eyes, rubbing at the black soot on his chin stubble furiously.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Would've thought the whole damn mine exploded. Some dummy got the tracks switched around and the cart of explosives went kaboom with some rocks," Smithers choked out between coughs.

Jeremy still look startled, "You're fine then?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't think it did the mine much good. After all that blasted thing as been trying to collapse for years," Smithers told him.

"Oh and who are these people? Friends of yours Jeremy?"

Jeremy shook his head, "No, they are challengers. We came to look for you." Smithers looked irritated, "Not again. Great Stellar Spirits that last red haired trainer that always wanted to take his shirt off about made me want quit my job. Speaking of quitting your job, what are you doing here Josh Hershey?"

Josh looked expressionless but Colby could see the anger beginning to build up.

"He doesn't like to talk about it…" Colby told Smithers, hopefully not causing Josh to explode.

Smithers raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything more and turned back to the mine.

"Well…nothing more we can do here until this baby cools down. Let's head back to the gym I guess," he said with a sigh.

"So we are just going to leave it…smoking?" Ellis asked.

"Yep! That's the way I do things around here. You want a gym battle? Follow me kiddies," Smithers smirked, marching back towards town while the mine continued to smoke in the background.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys! Sorry it has been a while XD busy as all get out. Sadly school is starting pretty soon so I had to get chapter twenty done for everyone before that craziness happens. So…as I said, school will be starting soon. For the fresh start of a new year I am in need of a background for my laptop. That is my challenge to you guys! Whoever can draw the most awesome scene from this fan fiction (any scene you like the most!) gets a prize! *gasp* Yes! A prize. This prize is going to be customizing a character as either a member of the Elite or a Team Lunar member! So all you artists get out your awesome drawings and make an amazing background for meh laptop! :D I would prefer it colored and you can add words and such if you wish. Good luck! Just send me the link to your entry in a pm message :) Until next time! Oh and the deadline is September 1 :P Plenty of time! The winner will be posted on whatever chapter I'm at by then. Too-da-loo!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

Colby, Amanda, Josh, Ellis, Smithers and Jeremy approached the gym, of course with Smithers in the lead, looking pretty confident. The 'Sanville Ground Gym' sign was lit up due to the blazing sun that seemed to be baking them all like chocolate chip cookies so to speak. The brick building of the gyms residence stood firm not being budged by the heat, or in this case, melted.

"Well here we are, get in! You're letting all my cool air out," Smithers griped, holding one of the double doors open for everyone.

Colby filed in and was hit by a blast of cool air, tickling her cheeks refreshingly. It was such a relief to be out of the hot for a while and this building felt like a little slice of heaven.

Smithers slammed the door shut, causing Amanda to jump, startled. Ellis looked amused at this and gave her a teasing glance that she ignored. Colby didn't even glance at Josh because everyone already knew his expression, emotionless and blank, like always.

Looking around, Colby noticed that they were in a fairly simple, brick waiting room. A few chairs were sat around the room but barren as if there was an epidemic or something. The walls were a tan brick of some type, which Colby had never seen before and the walls were filled up with pictures of all the Pokémon that you could ever think of! Smithers was in each of the pictures, posing by people, Pokémon, great landforms, or buildings of some type. You could spend all day just looking at all of the pictures there were that many in the small room.

"You look like you are interested in traveling and Pokémon…?" Ellis asked, admiring a picture of a young Smithers and another guy with dusty brown hair posing by a Dragonite along with its trainer.

Smithers sighed and brushed his brown hair out of his face, almost solemnly. "Yes…I traveled to all of the regions when I was younger with my buddy…" Smithers trailed off, looking expressionless but uncomfortable at the same time. Ellis seemed to notice and dropped the subject, continuing to look at the pictures with not as much interest as before.

"Well," Smithers cleared his throat. "I better get a move on, as should you kiddies. Let's battle."

With that he walked down a hallway and disappeared without another word. Colby was in question asking sentence when he left, ignoring the fact that she had many questions.

Jeremy sighed, "He tends to do that a lot, disappear with out another word that is. Since it's my job, I'll tell you what to do past this point. Follow that hallway that he just went through and you will come to a fork in the road so to speak. You have to find your way through the maze that we set up. Get to the bottom, of course after battling the trainers, and then you can battle Smithers. Don't be afraid when the…surprise…pulls you in if you know what I mean. Just let it take you where you are going and all will be fine."

Colby nodded, pretending to understand the last part when in fact she had no idea what he was talking about. Surprises can be good or bad…so she was wondering which was the case this time. It was a gym and they had to keep their participants safe, ruled by the Pokémon League which this gym was a part of. It could be a bit nerve wracking…but at least she knew that she was going to be safe.

Taking a deep breath she nodded to Jeremy, "Thank you for all your help. You are going to make a good gym leader some day."

Jeremy smiled brightly, "Thank you miss, it was a pleasure to help you four out. As for the gym leader part…we'll hope. Good luck on your journeys and off you go!"

Amanda smiled and led the way down the lighted hallway with Colby at her side and Josh and Ellis in the rear.

"Okay…so by surprise did he mean some ice-cream? It pulls me in and I just have to let it take me," Ellis said aloud, practically drooling.

Amanda giggled, "No Ellis I doubt it, though that does sound nice. Haven't seen and Ice-cream Gym anywhere on the map."

Josh just rolled his eyes and crammed his hands in his blasted coat pockets. Great Stellar Spirits! That guy could survive extreme heat!

"After this we will go get some ice-cream Ellis, don't you worry," Colby laughed, agreeing with it.

They came to the end of the hall and emerged into a small room. Just before she got to the end of the hall Colby looked down.

"Stop!" She commanded, stopping and causing Ellis to smack into her back. "What the hell?" Josh growled, jerking to a stop before he ran Amanda over. "What is _that_?" Ellis exclaimed, seeing what Colby was.

She couldn't believe her eyes at what was on the floor…if you could call it a floor in front of them. Tan sand was churning on the floor, each side twisting into a vortex of swirling sand. All was still except for the circle, churning area in the corners of the room that almost looked like portals of some sort.

"Oh…" Josh said quietly, mesmerized as everyone else was by the scene.

"This is the surprise he was speaking of?" Amanda asked, dumbfounded. "What…? How are we supposed to get anywhere? This is a plain, oval shaped room with no doors or windows…just a weird ass floor," Josh said plainly. "What even is the floor?" Ellis asked.

Everyone seemed to be confused but Colby had an idea about what was in front of them. Jeremy had said something about a maze…so what if the two sand portals were part of the maze somehow? Where did they go and which one was to be chosen? This really was a fork in the road…but not literally.

Mustering up the courage and ignoring her confused friends, Colby adjusted her knapsack straps and took a step onto the sandy floor. Nothing happened as she moved forward, ignoring the gasp from behind here.

"Colby! What are you doing?" Ellis asked, looking wide eyed.

Colby looked behind her, standing perfectly fine in the sand that wasn't swirling, like in the corner ahead and to the left of her. She took a few more steps out where she was now in the middle of the room, looking back at them.

"Guys it's really nothing! Just some sand-" She heard something… like that sucking sound of your feet when you pull them out of mud.

Amanda's eyes went wide, "Colby!"

Looking down, Colby saw that her feet were…sinking into the floor. This wasn't regular sand…this was something else…this was-

"Quicksand! It's quicksand!" Ellis yelled as the top of her shoes started to go under and down to who knows where.

Colby's eyes widened in fear as she felt herself slowly sinking…and knew she couldn't anything about it. One thing about quicksand that she did know was that if you fought it, you'd sink a lot faster. Stupid facts weren't going to get her out of this one.

"I'm going to help-" Ellis started, taking a step.

Amanda yanked him back, "No! You can't! You'll sink just like her!"

Josh looked irritated, "Well are we going to do something or just let her go through the jacked up floor? I'm with the green headed dumbass."

Amanda looked pained and released Ellis's arm, realizing the truth of Josh's words.

"Wait no! Don't guys!" Colby exclaimed, up to her ankles in sand now.

"We aren't just going to leave you there! I'm coming," Ellis yelled, stepping out onto the quicksand.

He walked around a bit, testing the ground and seemed to get an idea. "Hey! As long as you're moving you don't sink! See?" Ellis said, walking from one side to the other perfectly without sinking so much as an inch.

Colby almost face palmed, of course! That's why she didn't sink at first! Just when she stopped moving to look at them is when the ground responded. Amanda and Josh crept out onto the magical floor and kept their feet moving, following Ellis towards Colby. She was now up past her calves in the sand and it was getting hard to move at all…hopefully her friends would come to the rescue!

Ellis came up beside her, moving his feet in a standing jog and grabbing her arm. Amanda and Josh did the same thing, grabbing each of her arms. "Ready? One…two…three!"

On three everyone yanked up on her arms, causing Colby to come free a couple inches.

"Keep going!" Ellis called, bracing for yank number two.

"Go!" Amanda said.

They all yanked again, freeing Colby to the top of her shoes this time.

"One more time," Josh grunted. "Go!"

They yanked one last time and Colby came out, free of her sand prison. Immediately the holes from her feet closed and she was back on the sand, jogging in place like everyone else.

"Thanks guys! You're really the best," Colby smiled, giving each of them a high five.

Ellis grinned his signature smile, "Any time! Ellis Corona and friends to the rescue!"

Josh looked blank, "Since when was I ever established as 'your friend'?"

Ellis ignored him and glanced at the vortex sand that was ten feet away.

"What are we going to do about that?" Amanda asked.

Colby had done some brief thinking…but there was no guarantee anything would work, at least it was worth a shot.

"I have an idea…" Colby said, walking over and doing her in place jogging in front of the vortex.

It surely did look intimidating…but she pushed away her fears and decided that it needed to be done, regardless.

"I think we need to jump in either one of them," she told them, glancing down at swirling sand and back at her friends.

"I don't know…" Amanda said hesitantly, looking a bit intimidated by the vortex.

"Well there's only one way to find out isn't there? Let's get this over with, come on snot brain," Josh said furiously, grabbing Ellis by the collar and jerking him over into the swirling mass where they both stepped.

"Josh what are you doing?" Amanda said, eyes wide as Josh and Ellis began to sink quickly into the floor below.

Josh had surprise on his face as both of their torsos began to go through the vortex and to who knows where. Ellis looked a bit afraid but forced them one last smile before they were both swallowed up, and gone into the unknown.

The tips of green and black hair were swallowed, the portal then making the mud sucking noise again and seeming to collapse on it self. There was no sign that there had even been one there to start with. Feeling a jolt of fear, Colby wondered if they were all right…who knows which was the right choice. That could go anywhere.

Sighing, she looked at Amanda whose eyes were twice the size as normal, just staring at the spot where Josh and Ellis were swallowed up. "We're next," Colby told her, forcing a smile.

Amanda took a deep breath, pushing her glasses up, and nodded, "Alright, let's do this."

Colby and Amanda stepped into the swirling mass together, slowly beginning to sink like Josh and Ellis. It wasn't any different than being swallowed by the quicksand but much quicker. Amanda looked terrified as they were up to their stomachs and descending rapidly.

"Don't worry, we'll make it! Just close your eyes," Colby told her.

Amanda nodded rapidly and squeezed her eyes shut so tight that if she weren't careful they would probably pop out of her head. They were up to their torsos now and she could feel her feet dangling beneath her on the other side…of where ever.

Colby was up to her shoulders now, feeling her arms hit wide-open air on the other side. A burst of fear tackled her, would they fall into air and never stop?

Colby's neck was barley above and she took a last gulp of air, squeezing her eyes shut as the rest of her head was pushed under the rough quick sand and down to the unknown.

* * *

><p>Colby was surprised when her feet hit solid ground and they made it safely through the quicksand…portal. Looking around, she saw the room was just a concrete hallway of sorts that had little lights brightening the stretch of hallway. It was like a little tunnel going straight to who knows where.<p>

Amanda and Colby were breathing heavy as they looked around, glancing up at the ceiling (which looked like a perfectly normal concrete ceiling) and seeing nothing that could indicate the presence of a portal of any kind. Colby shook off her apparent confusion and looked at Amanda, who met her eyes.

"Where are Josh and Ellis?" Amanda asked, looking worried as they looked down the semi dark hallway.

Colby shrugged, looking around she didn't see them or a door or anything suggesting that they would be around here anywhere.

"Maybe their portal lead to another place…?" Colby told her, confused as well.

"Alright, well we better get going," Amanda responded, trying to hide her obvious worry.

She was a worrywart, caring about people and Pokémon alike, not resting until they were safe. That was one of the reasons that Colby thought she would make an excellent Pokémon Professor one day. They continued down the silent hallway, as the concrete tunnel around them seemed to widen a bit. After a couple steps, they came to another room that looked almost exactly like the room that they had gone through the portal in, accept this one had three portals and was a lot bigger.

Stepping onto the concrete platform that jutted out from the hallway, they looked down at the mysterious sand and back up at the portals with worry. How would they know which one was the right one, and which lead to their friends and the gym leader?

Just as Amanda was about to say something, a noise was heard to their left…sort of like a gurgling. With wide eyes Colby and Amanda watched, as a figure seemed to rise out from the sand like magic. The person fully came into view and Colby recognized that it was a trainer!

"Who are you?" Amanda squeaked with big eyes.

The young boy, probably around 14 (two years younger than Colby and the other gang, besides Amanda who was 15) smirked at them.

"I am here to battle you! You're Smithers challengers! Congratulations on getting this far, but I'm afraid your triumphs stop here!" He yelled as he threw out a Poke Ball.

Amanda switched into battle mode almost automatically and threw out Rain's Poke Ball, letting her explode onto the sand that didn't seem to be having them sink if stood still on. Turning her Unknown cap sideways, she caught Rain's Poke Ball with expertise and nonchalance. Colby threw out Mara's Poke Ball and caught it when it came back, shakier than Amanda though.

The boy had two Pokémon that he called out, one being a scraggly looking Sandshrew and an energized Gible.

"Sandshrew, swift! Gible, take down!" the boy yelled.

Colby thought the moves were a good choice, considering everyone in their party was around the level 15 through 17 area (accept for Subway…no one really knew how the hell he was level 18 and evolved into a Wailord). The moves that the boy had told them to do were clever, but Amanda and Colby were a better team.

Rain did have the advantage here since she was a water type and Sandshrew was ground, so that's where Amanda told her to aim her water gun attack. Mara didn't have as much of an advantage on Gible, but a bit over normal because of being part poison type.

"Mara, get him with stun spore!"

Oh boy was Colby familiar with that attack. Sandshrew released its fury of stars, some nicking Rain on the side, causing her to flinch, but not let up the power of water gun. An explosion of wet fury burst from her mouth, water knocking the Sandshrew clear off its feet. It squirmed but got up, shaking the attack off and dodging the next giant pump of water that was firing from Rain's mouth.

Gible unleashed its take down, hitting Mara head on. Dazed, Mara lay there as Gible was preparing for another hit, storing energy.

"Get up Mara! Quick!" Colby yelled as Gible came charging again.

Seeming to snap out of it, Mara barely dodged and sent an angry Gible charging back toward her the other way, an endless dance of dodging. Mara was shooting stun spore at him, obviously slowing the other Pokémon down though he tried to fight it. Letting loose another torrent of it, the Gible finally froze up, twitching.

"Acid!" Colby commanded.

Mara obeyed, sending acid all over the Gible and instantly making the Pokémon faint. The boy recalled his broken Pokémon and focused on fighting for control of Amanda's side of the battle. Unfortunately for him, Rain had everything under control, easily taking down the Sandshrew with a smooth looking tackle.

Rain landed back in front of Amanda easily, seeming not to have even broken a sweat from the battle an obviously not injured at all. Amanda had spent hours training her team, making everyone work together in sync and as strong as possible. Her goal wasn't to get the strongest or most powerful Pokémon, but to make everyone strong through teamwork, effort, and perseverance through any challenge.

Countless hours where Amanda could have been sleeping, Colby had seen her out there working with her Pokémon individually and always making sure they were taken care of like royalty. Just like that the battle was over and the boy looked surprised at their strength.

"Wow! You two are really good trainers. I may have underestimated you. Move along across the sand and continue your journey through the Sanville Ground Gym!"

With that he disappeared back into the sand like he came, going back down into the ground like magic as if he was never there. Colby and Amanda exchanged a look before looking ahead of them at the next challenge presented. They had to decide which of the three portals to choose…who knew which one lead to the gym leader.

"Which one should we choose?" Amanda asked, both of them still standing on the concrete square.

Colby shrugged, her guess was as good as anyone's at the moment. She didn't even know if there was any way to tell which one…which one was what. They all looked the same!

"Let's just…go with the far left one just like we did when Josh and Ellis took their leap of faith so to say. Does that sound good?" Colby asked.

Amanda nodded, pushing her glasses up on her face and letting out a deep sigh before both of them proceeded forward onto the weird sand floor, still not sinking in as long as their feet kept moving. It really was the strangest thing, not that it felt any different under her feet or anything…it was just like walking in regular sand, squishing between the soles of their shoes.

Coming to the far right portal, they stepped in, once again going down into the floor, sinking. The sensation of actually sinking wasn't that weird…though the thinking about it made it that way. Who got to sink through the floor on a daily basis? Evidently only the Sanville Gym trainees under Smithers! Colby and Amanda came up to their chests in the vortex, Colby flailing her arms on the other side of the vortex for randomness. Closing her eyes tightly, they dropped easily onto a small platform.

Colby opened her eyes as they landed, and while the ceiling remodeled so to speak, they took a look at what was around. It was a big square room, who knows how many feet under the gym, and had sand everywhere. This was the same quick sand stuff that had been around everywhere. The room wasn't huge, just a bit bigger than the smaller rooms that they had encountered before. The only strange thing was, there was a giant…almost not solid in a way, wall of sand not ten feet from where they were standing.

Colby shot Amanda a questioning look and crept over to the wall, seeing that there were this time four distinct swirling portals.

"Geesh, what is with this place and portals?" Colby thought aloud, sticking her hand through each of the portals and quickly pulling it back as the portal acted as a vortex, trying to pull her through.

"What one do we choose now?" Amanda asked, both interested and perplexed by the strange wall in front of them.

Colby shrugged, she had no idea this time, "I have no idea…let's just choose a random one."

They got their packs situated on their backs and picked the middle left one, going straight through easily.

"Emmera! Use tackle!" Someone yelled as they turned to face in front of them.

They were on a huge sand area with concrete walls. It seemed to be like a sand pit sort of bowl like and huge. They had appeared evidently at the end of Ellis's battle with Smithers, because they were both facing each other, while Emmera took out his Pokémon.

Ellis looked triumphant as Smithers recalled his feinted Pokémon with the slightest of smiles on his face. He had changed from his usual attire into a light green pair of cargo pants and a black tank top that were completely coal dust free. His hair was still wild but Colby guessed it was always like that since he seemed just like that kind of person.

"Congratulations! You battled well, and you've more than earned this Sand Badge. It was a pleasure battling you and good luck," Smithers said, approaching Ellis to hand him the little badge and shake his hand.

Ellis was beaming with his green hair tousled just the least from battle and took the badge with a huge smile.

"Thanks!" He exclaimed simply before practically running over to them, catching sight of the girls.

"You guys made it!" He said, giving them each a hug.

"Did you see my amazing battle? I kicked tail," He laughed.

Colby returned the hug and laughed, "No, sadly we only caught the last part of it Ellis, but I'm sure you were amazing."

Amanda smiled, "Yep! Emmera and Charlie seem to make a good team, so I'll be everything went smooth. Maybe those training sessions with Zero, Rain and Citrus paid off!"

Ellis returned the smile, "They sure did! Even Josh was a little shocked."

"I was not," Josh snapped from beside Colby.

She almost jumped at his voice, not realizing he was there the whole time.

"Scared the crap out of me," Colby breathed, looking at his emotionless state that if wasn't present it would be practically the end of the world as everyone knew it.

"Yep, his face is pretty scary," Ellis said with muffled laughter.

Josh narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, not saying a word.

"Who wants to battle next?" Smithers called, still in the spot and ready for the next challenger.

Colby looked at Josh, "I'm guessing you haven't battled yet?"

She hadn't heard any explosions so that had to be a good sign.

Josh shook his head, "I'll go last…you two go."

Colby shrugged, "Okay, want to go Amanda?"

"Sure!" She replied, looking excited as she grabbed three Poke Balls from her bag.

Looking quite ready she took a deep breath and proceeded to the line that Ellis was just standing on in the middle of the field. It was marked by the usual rectangle and Poke Ball shaped circle in the middle, nothing fancy, and with plenty of room for some serious battling. As her usual routine entails, Amanda turns her cap to the side and pushes her glasses up, rolling a Poke Ball around in her hands.

Smithers had a smirk plastered on his face, "Glad to see you've made it this far! Now let's get this battle started girlie!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope that wasn't too terrible xD Again, sorry for the not one week updates again, as I said I will try my best guys! Oh cliffhangers, don't you just love them? XP Farewell till next chapter! Review? :D Please?**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Out of one of Smithers' Poke Balls exploded a Cubone, bone poised and eyes glaring out from the slits in the white shell. Colby always thought it looked like a helmet of some sort…but then again most did. Amanda turned her cap a little to the side, pushing her glasses up and smirking at the opponent with adrenaline pulsing through her veins from the heat of the upcoming battle.

"Go Rain!" Amanda shouted, throwing the red and white sphere high into the air and letting her fairly new Vaporeon burst from the Poke Ball.

"Vaporeon!" Rain called, licking her side nonchalantly and raising her eyes to meet the opponent, which was Smithers' Cubone.

Colby and Ellis clapped giving each other a fist bump as Rain shot off toward Cubone, instantly leaping into a charged quick attack. Josh stood to the left of them, watching the battle with a calculating expression and preparing for his own battle…inside his mind that is. He wanted to make his time on the playing field as quick as possible and obviously take the victory. He wasn't in this for the winning necessarily, but for the training with his team and the work it took to be that great.

The amount of grit, devotion, and perseverance through any situation (good or bad) that he would encounter was what counted. Josh had never gotten the experience of being on an adventure throughout the region of Aurora, which he had always lived. That was all changing now after he met up with Ellis, Colby, and Amanda that day at his dump of a gym. Now he was doing what he always found intriguing…but had been too scared to try it on his own. No one knows this of course, nor would they, but some of these things he was finally admitting to himself.

Josh smiled as he watched the battle progress and stood still as his friends hooped and hollered for Amanda, cheering her to victory.

Rain threw a water gun, nicking Cubone's side, which he ignored with an obvious wince. Cubone growled, hearing his master call a command, which he executed, a headbutt.

"Dodge, then tackle!" Amanda commanded.

Rain did exactly as she said, dodging the headbutt and getting the Cubone in the back with a furious tackle. They writhed on the floor, Rain pinning Cubone and at the same time preparing for a water gun.

"Escape it Cubone!" Smithers called, looking perfectly controlled over his emotions in the battle.

Rain finally warmed up, getting the Cubone easily with a water gun. At the same time the Pokémon threw Rain off and hit her with bone club in the head. Rain shook her head back and forth, trying to clear her blurry vision while evading the relentless attacks.

"One last water gun Rain!" Amanda instructed, seeming to have this under control for the most part.

Rain shook it off and already had the water gun ready, slamming Cubone in the face with a jet like stream of water. He was knocked back and off his feet, slamming into the ground.

"Cu…" He said, feinting. Smithers called back the knocked out Pokémon and grabbed another off of his green belt twirling it in his hand, as Amanda didn't recall Rain.

"Let's go Baltoy!" Smithers said, tossing the ball into the air and catching it as a Baltoy appeared.

He spun around a little bit and looked pumped for the battle as Amanda breathed out, preparing for round two. Rain didn't look at all tired, just a bit winded, and faced the Baltoy.

"She's not recalling?" Ellis asked.

"I guess not…" Colby answered, hoping Rain could do this.

"I'm sure Rain will be fine," Josh added, folding his arms across his chest. "Harden!" Smithers commanded.

Baltoy started off with a defensive move, looking shiny as it performed the defense stat-raising move. Amanda was being rather aggressive today and already had Rain preparing for a water gun. Baltoy completed the move and was instantly blasted by Rain's well-timed water gun, though it wasn't as effective with the defensive move that was previously used.

"Rock tomb," Smithers said. Baltoy dodged some of the water; a glint coming into his eyes as he levitated some rocks from out of nowhere and aimed them at Rain.

"Wait for it…" Amanda told Rain.

Rain muttered something, looking at the oncoming rocks with no fear and only determination. They came sailing at her as Baltoy released them, coming right for the Vaporeon.

"Now!" Amanda yelled as the rocks just about reached Rain.

She leaped high into the air somehow evading the rocks and went into something that looked like a nosedive tackle. She struck Baltoy directly on the head, him not expecting it. Smithers' eyes were widened throughout the whole thing, marveling at this Pokémon and its trainer's bond. They were obviously very close if a Pokémon could do this much at the level it was. Time for training, devotion, and good care were obviously practiced for this Vaporeon. Baltoy looked a bit dizzy, swaying from side to side on account of the impact.

"Wow! That was amazing! Where did Rain learn that one?" Ellis said, beaming from head to foot.

"Amanda is amazing," Colby said with a laugh.

Their little friend was an expert at all things Pokémon, no matter what you threw at her.

"Finish it!" Amanda said, winded from the battle and couldn't stop smiling at Rain's wonderful execution of their continuously practiced move.

Rain added one more speedy tackle, bringing the Baltoy down like taking candy from a baby. Baltoy spun, falling down face first into the dirt and not moving. Smithers' mouth was almost dropped as he recalled his second Pokémon…he was getting beat. But now…now was time to get serious. His main Pokémon was in the Poke Ball that he gripped now, tossing it firmly into the air and releasing and Numel. Amanda glanced at Rain who seemed a bit tired now and was breathing heavy, but still wasn't being switched out. "She's really hardcore training now!" Ellis said.

"You can do this Rain! Let's finish this up! Water gun!" Amanda encouraged. Numel breathed out a cloud of black smoke, looking the highest level of his Pokémon and the strongest.

He was bigger than Rain and Amanda knew was going to be a more difficult opponent than the other two. Rain had all the energy stored somewhere and erupted in a huge water gun, which was fired at Numel, who easily dodged it. Numel got command from his owner and prepared a huge flame that Amanda recognized as ember.

Flames came from him and blasted Rain head on, making her hunker down as the full brute of it was swallowing the poor Vaporeon. Rain was cringing a bit at the pain as she tried to shake off the fierce attack.

"Maybe she should switch Rain out…" Ellis whispered.

Rain got back on her feet, still facing her enemy with unmatchable courage.

"Water gun again!" Amanda said, with firm belief that they would be able to pull through.

Rain wound up for another round of water gun that got Numel directly. It flinched, stopping the attack that it was going for.

"Takedown," Smithers instructed Numel.

"Water gun then tackle!" Amanda countered.

Colby watched as the two prepared their attacks with Numel charging toward Rain. Rain fired the water gun straight into Numel's face and barely dodged the take down, doubling back with a tackle to the downed Pokémon. Numel tried to shake it off as Rain bombarded him with continuous tackles, not being able to get up without being knocked down again.

"Numel get up!" Smithers yelled.

"You've almost got it Rain!" Amanda encouraged, nervousness curling in the pit of her stomach.

Numel was able to break free, snorting smoke everywhere and escaping Rain's endless tackles barely. Rain wasn't about to give up and hit him with another water gun, finishing up with the final blow of a surprisingly powerful tackle. Numel wasn't expecting it and was flipped over, feinting. Rain stood there, panting and exhausted from the long battle. She glanced back at Amanda who was on her knees smiling, arms wide open.

"Rain! You were amazing!"

"Va…Vaporeon," Rain said, padding over and rubbing her head against Amanda's knee.

"You deserve this rest," Amanda told her, recalling her into the Poke Ball with a click.

Amanda got up, facing defeated Smithers from across the field. Ellis and Colby applauded, rushing toward Amanda with congratulations. "Wonderful job Amanda! You're awesome!" Ellis said, giving her a high five. "Yeah! Great job, you kicked tail," Colby added.

"Your friends are right, you did a wonderful job. You obviously put in time, love, and devotion into your Vaporeon. I'm sure the others are the same! I present you with the Sand Badge," Smithers said, handing Amanda a coppery looking badge that was in the shape of a coin.

Amanda took it in her hands, beaming and closing it into her fisted hands.

"Thank you!" She said, not being able to say anything else.

"Alright, who's next?" Smithers asked.

"That'd be me," Colby said, beaming.

"Let's get this show on the road!" The gym leader announced, getting into battling position.

Colby took Amanda's place on the field and got out Mara's Poke Ball, she was ready for this.

"Go Mara!"

"Let's go Baltoy!"

With that the battle was off, and Colby was ready.

* * *

><p>Less than 20 minutes later the battle was over and Colby had received her Sand Badge from Smithers. The battle went smoothly with Mara dominating on the field in her battle with Baltoy…but feinting when Cubone unleashed a furious bone club. Luckily Nicksy was there to save the day and finished Cubone with a controlled shadow ball. Then it all came down to Numel at the end, which Nic handled surprisingly well, taking a few hits but ultimately coming out on top.<p>

"Okay, one last challenger, let's get this over with," Smithers sighed, obviously tired.

Well he had had a long day...almost getting killed in the mines then battling four challengers, full day. Josh stepped up to where everyone was battling and ignored his cheering companions, time to put his training to the test.

Josh stuffed the Poke Ball's of Abra and Slowbro in his pack since they defiantly weren't going to be used. He skipped over Sneasel because he obviously wasn't in any shape to battle. Josh grabbed Mr. Mime's Poke Ball and threw it out, hopefully making this battle short and sweet.

He did just that, taking the battle Pokémon by Pokémon and easily wiping out Numel, which really wasn't that bad. Next Baltoy was called out, which was easy as pie for Mr. Mime who was probably still pumped from the early morning training that Josh and him practiced religiously.

Baltoy landed a few hits on Mime but didn't do much good against his confusion. Baltoy as well feinted and the last of Smither's Pokémon was called out, Cubone. Josh was playing the same way Amanda was, keeping Mr. Mime in for the whole ride. He faced the Cubone and nodded toward Mime who already knew what to do.

"Bone club," Smithers instructed.

Mime was already using his attack of confusion as Cubone unleashed a bone club. It knocked Mr. Mime over, as the confusion was effective on the Cubone.

"Get up Mime," Josh shouted.

They needed this battle to be over easily!

"Mime…" Mr. Mime said, leaping to his feet and finishing the Cubone with a force palm, easy as pie.

Each of the trainers recalled their Pokémon and Smithers was smiling. "You are a very strong trainer too Josh Hershey. I'm surprised that you quit the position of gym leader, though I will honor your choice," Smithers said approaching Josh.

"Humph," Josh muttered, not wanting to talk about _that issue _anymore.

"Here is your Sand Badge too. You have a bond with your Pokémon just like Amanda," Smithers said, dropping the little badge into his open hand.

Josh closed his fist around it and nodded, "Thanks."

"Well, since that's everyone are you ready to head back up? This time we can go up normally instead of using those pesky portals," Smithers chuckled.

"Yep! I'm ready," Ellis answered with a smile.

"Let's get some fresh air," Amanda agreed.

"Right this way kiddies," Smithers said, leading the way across the sand arena and over to a pair of silver doors.

He clicked a red button and something dinged. The doors opened automatically and Smithers filed everyone inside.

"Why couldn't we just use this to get down here in the first place," Josh griped, being the last one it.

The elevator lurched upward, "Because we wanted it to be a challenge!" Smithers said.

Josh rolled his eyes and pressed his back against the elevator; shoving his hands into his black trench cloak's deep pockets.

"Obviously looking for a sandwich to calm his nerves," Ellis whispered in Colby's ear.

She laughed, trying to suppress it like Amanda was also doing. They lurched to a stop, the doors opening to reveal the main area that they arrived in. Jeremy was pacing in the front area and jumped when he saw them. The elevator closed as they all got out and…had the wall close back over it like sliding doors as it disappeared.

"Smithers! We have a problem!" Jeremy gushed, seeming stressed.

Smithers face hardened, "For Stellar Spirits sake! What the hell is the problem now?"

Jeremy ignored his outburst and motioned for them to follow him outside. Colby looked at her group of friends and shrugged, each as confused as the last.

"It's Saria and the wardens," Jeremy said, facing Smithers.

Smithers spun around, making eye contact with him. Smithers looked a bit angry and his mouth twitched in annoyance. He ran back inside the gym, disappearing in a flash, leaving Colby's group confused.

"What's going on?" Josh asked, looking perplexed.

"It's hard to explain…well more complicated than hard I suppose. Saria is the grass gym leader from the next town, Mayeberry. Mayeberry is situated at the very end on the point of the claw, which leaves that whole area of the rest of the claw open. That open space is the Orland Savanna which happens to be very rich in mineral deposits which Smithers would just love to mine," Jeremy explained.

Colby could tell where this was going, scuffle over land probably. "Anyway, that is the basis of the fight that has been raging forever it seems like. Saria and her wardens are devoted to preserving the ecosystem of the Savanna, keeping it natural for Pokémon to live in. Smithers wants to mine it for the natural resources because it would benefit the economy. His digging would of course not ruin the Savanna or harm the Pokémon but Saria is diehard protective and won't budge on giving Smithers the land. She's got this whole pack of wardens behind her too. It's a big mess," Jeremy continued. "So…it's on gym leader against another? Fighting over some silly land?" Amanda said, thinking that the idea was stupid to fight over.

"Yes, essentially. I know, it sounds dumb. Smithers is passionate about his mining and all though…but today there is a big protest going on at the two bridges that connect the two claws. I've heard that Saria's wardens and a whole bunch of the local townspeople are organizing a protest of some type against Smithers. He has to go defend his title now," Jeremy said.

"Oh wow…so what do we do?" Ellis asked.

"Let's start a riot, a riot! Let's start a riot! Let's start a riot, a riot," Josh sung, doing some serious air guitar and singing aloud.

Colby noticed that he was completely ignoring everyone and was listening to his iPod, jamming it out verbally…what an ironic song to be listening to at this time.

"No, let's not start a riot," Amanda muttered.

"I think it's already one," Colby laughed.

"Good question…I suppose you can come with us," Jeremy said.

"How are we all going to get there? I mean we can't walk if we want to get there sometime today," Amanda said, cursing that she didn't have a flying type at the moment.

Colby didn't have one either…so maybe they would have to take Subway?

"Don't worry about that girlie, I've got it covered," Smithers said, returning from the gym and carrying…a megaphone.

"Can't forgot this Jeremy," Smithers grinned.

Jeremy sighed, "What ever you say Smithers."

Smithers nodded, pushing his blonde locks out of his face.

"Let's get this show on the road," he said, leading the way down the paved street with Jeremy in tow and Colby's group utterly confused.

* * *

><p>The Pokémon Aeronautics Academy (PAA). That's where they ended up ten blocks, three left turns, and a couple misread addresses later.<p>

"The PAA?" Ellis questioned as they headed up the high marble steps.

A white washed marble sign was at the bottom of the stairs with a Dragonite on the top of the statue. Josh had finally taken his headphones out, not knowing what the hell was going on, but got interested when they approached these huge stairs…that lead up to this huge brick building that looked sort of like a school. Well…in fact it was a school.

He kept up with everyone else, trailing Snot Brain and Colby who were marveling at the huge school at the top of these stairs. They got to the top of the stairs and Smithers lead them inside the huge double doors of the school that swung back to reveal a tall ceilinged, columned, and nicely furnished, entrance area.

In the back corner there was a huge see plated glass window that had different colors of glass, made into a picture that looked like a Dragonite. On the two back walls were elegant wood staircases that went up to where ever. On the left and right were offices of some sort, along with a waiting room, a few hallways, and bathrooms. The shiny floor looked smudge free and perfect as Smithers clomped down the hallway to the last door on the left before the staircase. He didn't even bother to knock on the door before he entered.

The office wasn't huge but it was by no means small either, adorned with brown walls and cream carpet. Seats were along the walls on both sides, along with an oak table and a green plant. In the far left corner of the room stood a deep oak desk, with a young woman with curly brown hair sitting there gazing at a document. She looked up at them over her reading glasses and smiled when she saw Smithers.

"Smithers! What are you doing here?" She exclaimed getting up and giving him a hug, having to stand on her tippy toes despite the fact she was wearing heels.

"Lena! How have you been?" Smithers asked, returning the hug.

Was she his girlfriend or something? Family member? Old friend?

"I've been great! The school is running well and everything. Who have you got here? I mean besides you Jeremy," Lena grinned.

"Everyone this is my sister Lena, she is the principal of the PAA. These are some challengers that I am going to take with me… This isn't exactly a chit chat visit Lena, we need to ask a favor," Smithers said.

Lena's expression turned from happy to worried, "Smithers is everything alright?"

Smithers nodded, "Nothing serious Lena…we just have issues with Saria again…a possible protest. We need to get there fast and…"

Lena seemed to understand what he was trying to say and sighed.

"You need transportation," Lena said.

"Yes, if you could please just let us borrow them for a bit I would be so grateful," Smithers said.

Lena sighed, walking back over to sit in her chair and taking off her reading glasses.

"You know I can't do that Smithers. They are needed at the school, we have classes," Lena said, not seeming to like that she had to tell him this.

Smithers ran his hand through his hair sighing, "Please Lena, we need this. I know it is a lot to ask and I know I will owe you big time for this…but just once. Just once."

Lena shook her head slowly and exhaled some breath, "Smithers…I can't." "Please Lena, just once," Smithers begged, looked at her with a pleading look. Lena shook her head again, grabbing the white telephone that was on her desk and looked defeated.

"Yes, stables, we need four of the fastest Skarmorys. Make it quick and I'll be down in a moment," Lena said, putting the phone down and looking at Smithers with a long expression,

"The things I do for you little brother."

* * *

><p>Ten minutes later they were all down at the area in the back yard of the school known as the stables. To be honest they really weren't stables, at least not like you would think of as being housing for Stantlers and such. It was a huge back building made of some type of red wood that looked exactly like a barn, hints the name stables. The group followed Lena out to the huge barn door style entrance for the building that was wide open.<p>

"Miss Lena, we have prepared the Skarmorys just as you requested," a blonde young boy of about 17 said.

Lena smiled warmly and leads everyone into the stables, following the blonde boy.

"Thank you Oliver, you are wonderful," Lena said.

Oliver looked perky, giving Colby's group a smile and Smithers a nod before leading the way deep into the huge building. Like stalls for Stantlers, on either side of the wide hallway that was paved with cement, each side of the barn was separated into stalls. The sides of these stalls were covered by some sort of chain link fencing to prevent the Pokémon on the inside from flying out of the area.

In some of the stalls Colby could see various people that she assumed to be students grooming all types of bird Pokémon from Starly to Skarmory. Some of the Pokémon were grooming themselves or simply napping in the cool afternoon.

At the end of this row Oliver turned and went down another hallway that had fancier stalls that were larger to house obviously bigger birds. In the middle of this hallway Oliver stopped and motioned toward the four cages to the left. Peering inside them, Colby saw huge bird Pokémon that she recognized as Skarmorys making noise at their visitors.

"They are prepared with the saddle and harnesses already attached. These four are our fastest Skarmorys and are anxious for a flight. Katrina hasn't been around all week to get them their exercise so they should be in good shape for flying," Oliver explained.

Oliver opened the door and ushered the anxious birds back with some sort of treat in his hand, motioning for everyone to enter the large stall. Four birds were standing there, easily eye level with Oliver. He looked huge compared to Lena, who was petting the Skarmory nonchalantly.

"Well that's about it," Oliver said, stroking one of the birds and cramming his other hand in his pocket, "just make sure you get riding gear on and be safe. The skies should be clear as far as known."

Smithers went out of the pin area for a few seconds, leaving Colby, Amanda, Ellis, and Josh aimlessly chatting.

"We actually get to fly?" Amanda said, excited at the thought.

"I know! It will be awesome-" Ellis said.

"Really it's not that exciting," Josh said blandly.

He was partially against flying again…because the last time he flied it was to meet his father… Josh turned away and stuffed his hands in his pockets, not saying anything else.

"Way to be Mr. Downer," Colby said, nudging him.

"Yeah, think positive for once," Amanda added.

Josh just grunted and didn't say anything else, spent with conversation. Smithers came back at the right time, holding up what looked to be some very ugly brown flight goggles.

"Let's get airborne kiddies."

* * *

><p>Oliver and Smithers lead the four Skarmory out into the yard, pulling them by the harnesses that were connected to the flying gear (and a saddle like seat) that was attached to there back, equipped to carry passengers. The Skarmorys were particularly restless, swinging their heads back and forth and stomping there feet in anticipation of the flight ahead.<p>

Smithers, Colby, Josh, Amanda, and Ellis were all wearing borrowed strap on boots, a heavy flying coat, and goggles to protect them from the elements. There was the option of helmets too…but that seemed like a bit much for the short distance that they were going. Surprisingly, Josh wasn't complaining about the jacket, which looked pretty dumb with his trench coat, and the goggles.

Oliver woahed the Skarmorys to a stop and hopped on one to demonstrate the proper riding technique for them before they took off.

"You just ride them like you would any normal Stantler, hug your legs to the side and dig your heels into their sides when you want to fly faster or slower, to the left if you want to go that way, to the right that way, an dif you want to descend then dig downward, simple enough. Make sure to keep your hands on the harnesses and always flatten yourself to the bird when you are descending rather quickly, two people per saddle maximum. Strap yourself in on the saddle always and be safe," Oliver said, completing his instruction and handing the reins to Ellis, who hopped on a bit sheepishly.

The Skarmory was calm and let him hop on, the weight of him being like nothing to the Pokémon. Smithers hopped on another easily, being just the right size for the bird, though his legs did hang off a bit. Oliver handed the reins of another to Amanda, which she reluctantly took and hopped on the front part of the saddle.

As with Ellis's Skarmory, it stayed perfectly still. Colby got on behind Ellis, strapping herself in. Amanda did the same with wide eyes and held the reins of the Pokémon as he padded around with anticipation. Josh got on the back of another Skarmory, having one to himself just like Amanda sine there were four Skarmorys and five people.

Everyone was on and buckled in, just like Oliver instructed.

"Good luck flying!" Oliver said, standing beside Lena and waving them on.

"I better get these Skarmorys back in the condition they came in Smithers!" Lena teased.

Colby and Ellis pulled their goggles down over their faces, giving Amanda and Josh a thumbs up, along with a wild smile.

"Don't worry about it sis! Be back in a flash. Let's fly," Smithers said, squeezing in on the side of the Skarmory.

Colby and Ellis, along with Josh's, Skarmory started off in a small run as Ellis squeezed his sides. He then spread his silvery wings, lifting them up off the ground into an ascent, just a bit ahead of Josh's. Amanda sighed, pulling her goggles back into place over her glasses again, before gently squeezing her Skarmory's sides and giving him a pat. He nudged her hand in response and picked up his feet, starting into a small run. Amanda's focus and concentration was broken by a yowl from behind her…

"Wait, Twix! Baby come back! You can blame it all on me!"

Amanda pulled the Skarmory to a stop, pulling on its reins and turning him a 180. From behind her she could see none other than the bushy redhead, Riley Giaden, chasing after her madly.

"Riley…what are you doing here?" She asked, puzzled as he came running toward her panting like a dog.

"I…I saw you getting ready to take off without me. Don't leave me," Riley sputtered.

Amanda glanced up at the sky where the others were already off, high into the sky…without her. Did she really have a choice?

Amanda sighed, "Alright. Get on."

"You'll need these," Jeremy said from behind them.

He tossed Riley a pair of goggles and a jacket. Riley grinned like an idiot and pulled the coat over him. He snapped the goggles on his face and made a gesture like he thought he was hot stuff.

Amanda rolled her eyes and made room for him on the back of the saddle. He climbed up, fitting into the other half of the saddle behind Amanda and buckled in. Amanda stiffened as she felt his arms snake around her stomach.

"Gotta hang on for dear life," he grinned.

Amanda really wanted to strangle him sometimes for his cheesy attempts at flirting…but didn't say a word, waving to Jeremy, Lena and Oliver as their Skarmory began to pick up speed again. He opened his platinum wings and pulled them up into an ascent. Amanda felt the butterflies in her stomach as they rose into the unfamiliar territory of the air…with Riley squeezing her to death the whole ascent.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry for neglecting you guys! :c Long chapter to make up :) Review if you please dearies**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty-Three

"WAHHHHH, Twix! Stop! Stop! You're going to make me go into labor back here!" Riley screamed as Amanda brought the Skarmory back level in the air.

She had just executed a killer nosedive, which scared the stuffing out of Riley. He wasn't the fondest of flying…being deathly afraid of heights. This whole time he was furiously clinging to Amanda for dear life, almost not allowing her to breathe with the tightness that his arms had on her abdomen. Though the one thing that he never ceased to stop doing was flirting. Well, since Amanda was in command of this lovely ride, she could control some of that. Boy was she evil. Amanda then just registered what he had said…going into _what_?

"So you are a girl," she yelled over the wind.

Her goggle straps flapped in the wind, as well as her long brown hair that seemed to be always slapping Riley in the face….not that he minded of course.

"No! I am not a girl. I was hoping you'd be the one to conceive our children-"

He was cut off by his own girly scream as Amanda dug her heels into the Skarmory and slipped into another sudden nosedive. Riley scream was on pitch with the wind as they went down through the clouds, doing spirals as well.

The wind blew in Amanda's face as that feeling of pure exhilaration coursed through her veins. She loved the feeling of the air and the openness of the sky even though this was her first time flying. It was going to sure be a memorable one. Just as they could see the dots of houses, trees, and open land getting larger, Amanda pulled up on the Skarmorys reins, going back up into a sharp ascent and making Riley scream even louder (and ever so girly). She didn't even know a guy could get to that pitch.

He had a death grip around her stomach and had his face shoved into her back, screaming like a banshee. Amanda looked over the feathers of the Skarmory and spotted the group again, coming to a normal glide a few yards behind them as usual.

Colby looked over at Amanda, grinning and holding back laughter as she had just watched this whole scene. Riley was never going to live this one down. Amanda grinned to herself as she felt Riley's shaking grip not loosen in the slightest.

"T-Twix…please…" Riley stuttered, shaking like mad.

Amanda smiled to herself and kept them going at a steady pace just to the left of Colby and Ellis.

"He's getting what he deserves, big time," Ellis laughed, holding onto the reins of their Skarmory.

Colby grinned, "Yes, yes he is. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to ride with Amanda. Hopefully lesson learned on Riley's part."

Smithers was cruising to their left of course a bit ahead of the others and eyes peeled for their landing spot that was inevitably close. It really wasn't that far of a flight to the bridge, walking yes, but a fairly short flight at a gentle cruising speed like they were doing.

"Let's make a slow descent. We should be fairly close," Smithers yelled to Colby and Ellis. Ellis gave him a grin and a salute.

"Amanda! Slow descent, we're close," Colby yelled back to the other two.

Amanda gave her a nod, gripping the sides of the bird Pokémon and pulling it down into a less…violent descent.

"Oh no! Please! Please!" Riley howled in her ear.

Amanda paid him no attention and kept a firm hold on the reins to keep even with her friends who were also descending through the clouds. It was certainly a strange experience going through clouds, better yet being above them. In a way it gave you a feeling that made you feel out of this world, being above something that seemed impossible to reach while on the ground. "God no! I want to get out of here! No! I want to land!"

Amanda pursed her lips and tried to ignore him, concentrating on keeping the Skarmory steady who seemed to want to go into another nose dive…maybe she had abused that privilege. Colby and Ellis were doing fine as their bird descended in time with Smithers's bird. They had passed through the rest of the clouds and were still quite a bit above the land, though things were coming into clearer view now.

Colby could see the green rolling plains of the land dominating and giving the Oreland Savanna it's signature attraction you could say, though this wasn't the actual Savanna since it began once the bridge was crossed. The land was fairly flat and a light brown, weaving path could be seen from the air. That had to be the road that they were traveling on. Evidently the desert had thinned out after Sanville, slowly getting greener and greener until it was almost as green as the Savanna on the other side of the bridge which lead out to the claw, and beyond to Mayberry.

Colby smiled to herself as she saw the gleaming metal of the bridge as they continued to descend toward land again.

"It's right up there!" Amanda yelled over to Colby, pointing in the general direction.

"I know! Nothing looks suspicious from this height," Colby yelled back.

"Don't be so quick to assume," Smithers added, lowering his bird even more.

By now they were only a few hundred feet from the ground and things were becoming a bit more visible. Colby could make out the little dots of a few of the larger Pokémon shuffling around in the grass below them as they flew over the wispy grass toward that path.

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Dear Stellar Spirits, don't take me from my woman!" Riley cried, his hair blowing every which direction and still welded to Amanda.

"Oh shut up Riley!" Amanda growled.

She couldn't exactly do a nosedive now…too close to land, well dang it. The torture was awesome while it lasted. The gleaming metal of the bridge was becoming more visible now and Colby squinted…seeing something peculiar. "I…I think there's something going on down there Smithers," Amanda yelled, noticing the same thing that Colby was.

Smithers could make out a giant herd of people that had seemed to congregate on the bridge…some seeming to be on one side of it and another herd on the other side…like two opposing forces facing each other.

"So is this one of those flash mob kind of things?" Josh yelled, finally catching up to them after just hanging back by himself the whole time. "Flash mob?" Ellis repeated.

Josh looked peeved, glancing up at him with a glare, "Flash mob. It's a bunch of people that gather and do something stupid."

Ellis just shrugged and kept his eyes back forward. The four Skarmorys were gliding just a hundred feet or so above the land now, approaching the bridge that was very large in the distance now with the giant herds of people. The looks of it didn't give Colby a good feeling in the pit of her stomach… It didn't seem like the place to be if something went really wrong. In mobs that usually was inevitably the case.

They were only a few hundred feet from the bridge now as Smithers pulled his Skarmory down to the ground, dropping it into a run and kicking up dust on the path. Amanda, Ellis, and Josh did the same, and with a thump they were back on the ground. Riley looked so relieved but held onto Amanda still (though thankfully with a little less force) as they bounced around on the back of the bird as it ran.

Colby held onto Ellis as they were also being jostled, being thrown off didn't sound like such a good plan. Smithers skidded his bird to a stop thirty feet or so from the mob of people…that was a lot larger than Colby originally thought… Everyone did as he did and stopped, exhaling a breath as they just completed their first flight with no injuries…except to Riley's manliness of course, which was shattered by his screaming, fear, and whining.

"Thank you Stellar Spirits! Land!" Riley yelled, stepping off of the Skarmory with an awkward hop that seemed to just catch the saddle…causing him to trip and fall on his face.

Amanda's Skarmory snorted with irritation and moved, ruffling its feathers at the abomination that almost landed on it's clawed foot. It was obvious this bird didn't like Riley Giaden. Amanda, Colby, and Ellis tried to hold back their laughter as he scrambled up, dusting himself off quickly and pretending as if nothing ever happened (turning about as red as his hair). Amanda easily got off, going to the Skarmory's head and giving him a couple gentle strokes.

"Thank you for the flight, you were wonderful," Amanda said, stroking the bird gently.

It responded by rubbing its head against her hand and making a noise. Colby grinned and helped Ellis get off of the bird. They then removed the jackets and goggles that were required when flying.

"Here, stick your equipment on the bird's back and recall them into these," Smithers tossed Colby, Amanda, and Josh a black Poke Ball unlike any one they had ever seen.

It had an emblem on it that had the label PTA in fancy lettering. Evidently the PTA had special made Poke Balls for their Pokémon or something. They did as they were told and the stuff, as well as the Pokémon, disappeared.

"Alright, good. Now, stick close and don't run off unless I tell you to," Smithers said.

"We aren't little kids-" Josh began to argue.

"It's for your own safety Josh. These people aren't friendly. Do as your told," Smithers said with a stony look of pure seriousness on his face.

Josh just grunted and looked the other way, sending Riley a blank look. Smithers exhaled big and approached the mob with Colby's group in tow, keeping fairly close together. The mob that they were approaching seemed to be people dressed as farmers or workers of some type, armed with weapons such as pitch forks, shovels, rakes, or even torches…a typical mob Colby guessed. She couldn't see over the crowd to get a good look at the other pack across the bridge...but from the air they looked to be better dressed. What surprised Colby was that they actually had weapons and were looking angry towards the other side. Smithers moved some people aside and they made their way through the crowd slowly.

"Smithers!"

"He's here!"

"We can finally get those wardens!"

Various people called as the crowd parted, getting more hectic as they made their way to the front. Obviously these people knew Smithers though they acted as if he was their leader or something… Colby just kept her mouth shut and followed her friends through the mass of people.

They finally seemed to reach a break in people where the other side of the bridge was fully visible…and oh boy was it scary. There were hundreds of people dressed as what seemed to be police force or wardens…that and some town's people that looked about like the ones on Smithers's side.

Smithers grabbed his megaphone and clicked the on button, facing the other side where a woman stepped out of the crowd to face him. She had two long pigtails that were fluffed out with bright pink hair that clashed majorly with her loose green t-shirt and brown kaki pants along with some brown boots. She also had a megaphone in her hand, clicking it on and putting it up to her lips.

"Nice to see you again Smithers," she said, her higher pitched voice being obnoxious in that megaphone.

The crowds on either side of the bridge fell silent almost instantly for that big of a crowd as all eyes shifted to the two. Smithers didn't smile back at her and raised his megaphone.

"You know why we're here Saria. We don't need small talk," Smithers replied. Saria looked back at him blankly, "I suppose. Why are we even here anyway Smithers? If you would just give up this conquest of yours to ruin my natural beauty of the Oreland Savanna then all of this useless bickering and fighting between our communities would be over."

Smithers's lip twitched and his eyes narrowed, "If you would let me dig in the land that is rightfully belonging to Aurora then all would be fine."

Saria laughed which sounded like a mix between a giggly girl and something else, "Smithers, we've known each other for so long. You surely know by now that I am _very_ stubborn when it comes to the well being of the land. I do know this, if we pollute the land with these mechanical beasts that extract the natural resources from the land that so needs it most."

The crowds behind Smithers broke off in a murmur of protests but were quickly silenced by Smithers with the simple wave of his hand.

"That may be true Saria, but is taking some of the resources from the land to boost the economy of the region is clearly more important," Smithers retorted.

The crowd behind him cheered and Saria seemed to be turning a bit pink.

"No! Once the natural resources are gone we will have them no more! The land will be lifeless and will contain none of its natural resources that it originally made!" Saria yelled.

Smithers shook his head causing blonde hair to go everywhere, "It will come back-"

"Only after thousands of years!"

"We need the economic help!"

"Save the region!"

They yelled back and forth through these megaphones, causing the crowds to get more riled up on each side of the bridge. Colby's group had been standing there watching the debate rage without saying much. Amanda glanced at her with a nervous look as the debate raged, getting more heated. "I'm telling you! This isn't going to happen! I have many people behind me-" Saria yelled.

"Who do you think these people are?" Smithers retorted, gesturing to the crowd behind them that raised their pitchforks and cheered.

"You're not getting this mine! You and your dirty…freaks that are obsessed with ruining the land!" She yelled.

Smithers looked pretty angry now, "I wanna dig my mineeeee bitch!"

With that the crowd behind Smithers erupted in a scream of angry faces and…charged across the bridge. Colby was pulled to the side by Ellis and Riley who had Amanda and Josh in tow also as they got ahead of the mob, grabbing the side of the bridge as the people on either side drilled forward at each other. Colby couldn't tell where Smithers had gone and was terrified at the scene unfolding.

The two sides had mixed now, warden against farmer as the beat down began. The wardens were facing the farmers, some punching each other and tying up the downed man. Some were locked in a pitch fork duel or kicking each other. It was all a big mess…though Josh was watching with his mouth dropped open. He had never seen something so cool…so much violence! It almost made him happy inside…

"What are we going to do? Smithers just vanished…into that!" Amanda cried. "Don't worry Twix, I'll protect you doll," Riley assured her, scooting a bit closer from where he was already standing by her.

Apparently he learned nothing from the horror story in the sky. Riley was Riley…so he would never stop flirting.

"Riley! This is serious!" Colby growled.

"We could join…" Josh trailed off, eyes glued to the fight in almost a trance.

Colby proceeded to smack him, which earned her a big glare. She could see nothing over the carnage that was unfolding on the bridge in front of them. She couldn't understand what they were supposed to do or why this happened…did Smithers actually want this?

"Stop! Stop your fighting! Stop!" Someone yelled from the crowd.

Colby looked around but didn't see anything but the usual fighting…it seemed as if her friends noticed nothing…

"Stop! Please someone! Help!" The voice yelled again, Amanda turned to Colby. "Did you hear that?" She asked.

Colby nodded, "Yeah…where is it coming from?"

"Anyone! Help! This is serious!"

A skinny girl that looked to be in her mid twenties yelled, dodging some people trying to pitch fork joust.

"Ma'am, what's wrong?" Ellis yelled to her.

The girl looked over at them, with a frantic look on her face.

"Oh! You five! You have to help me!" The lady said, dodging more people and coming over to them.

"What's wrong?" Amanda asked.

"This fighting! We have to stop it before someone gets seriously hurt!" The lady said.

"But…how?" Colby asked.

"I don't know…we'll have to figure out a way…"

Josh suddenly got an idea…it was a very, _very_ bad idea, but it just might work.

"I have an idea," Josh said, giving them all a half smirk before running off through the crowd and toward where ever.

"Josh! Wait…" Amanda was trailed off as he kept running till they couldn't see him anymore.

Josh kept running and dodging the fights…not matter how much he wanted to join…and made it to a clear area, shoving his hands into his pockets trying to search for something… When he found it he took a deep breath and crossed his fingers… With a throw just shy of the major leagues Josh chucked a Poke Ball into the air and hit the ground running back a bit. "Maaaaa!"

Subway foghorn wailed as he emerged from the Poke Ball, looking toward his master Josh Hershey with love. No one seemed to notice surprisingly…and kept fighting.

Josh looked up at Subway, "Now Subway…I need you to fog horn wail…right now. As loud as you can."

Subway flapped his flippers and seemed to understand, blowing some water out of his blowhole before opening his mouth wide. Josh covered his ears and prayed he would live. Like a supernova a low, wailing sound came from the depths of Subway, surely audible from the other side of the region.

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

* * *

><p><strong>an: Sorry it's been so long guys! With NaNoWrimo I got busy...that and i'm a procrastinator xD Anyways! Hope you enjoyed and things will hopefully go on as normal update wise now that NaNo is almost over. Review my lovely people :)**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty-Four

Colby's head shot up as her gaze rose to see the giant Wailord towering over everything and every bit as tall as he bridge itself. She clapped her hands over her ears at the loudest sound surely she had ever heard, Subway made of course.

The crowd did the same, covering their ears and looking up at the beast that had stopped the fighting. Subway closed his mouth and ended with a cute little hiccup, flapping his flippers with glee as everyone's eyes were focused upon the great beast.

"Hey! Listen up!" Josh yelled, looking like a midget next to his huge Pokémon.

Everyone's eyes then shifted to the dark haired guy in the trench coat who was looking at them blankly.

"Calm the hell down and stop your fighting! Smithers, Saria, there's got to be a better way to solve this instead of killing each other. What are we all barbarians now?" Josh yelled.

Everyone kept their eyes on him and sort of just looked at each other as if they didn't know what to do. Colby looked between the brown-headed woman and her group, waiting for something to happen.

"Well?" Josh echoed. Smithers seemed to part the crowd, appearing to the general vicinity to where Saria was, surrounded by a couple wardens.

Her light pink hair was messed up, one chunk partially out of the pig tails and fell slightly over her pale blue eyes.

"I suppose…this is a bit silly…" Smithers started.

"So…truce?" Saria asked, looking up at his tall frame but being careful not to meet his eyes.

Colby watched patiently as they shook hands warily.

"Truce," Smithers resigned.

"For the love of the Stellar Spirits, the things I do," Josh griped, recalling Subway and coming back over to the area that Colby, Riley, Ellis, Amanda, and the lady were standing.

"Well what are you waiting for? Scatter," Saria said with a light accent of some sort that Colby hadn't noticed when she was screaming into the megaphone.

The crowds around each of the gym leaders seemed to be locked into their own conversations and easily dispersed. Some were grumbling or discussing the fight, though others didn't seem to really care anymore. Two separate herds headed for either side of the huge bridge, either on the way to Mayberry or back to Sanville. Colby was fairly surprised that they exited so quickly for the amount of rage that had just unfolded.

Everyone left except Smithers, Saria, Colby's group, and that lady that was talking to them earlier. Josh approached the group and kept his eyes glued to the floor, kicking a rock with his boots.

"Nice job Josh. Another reason why Subway was good to keep around," Amanda said with a smile, pushing up her glasses.

Josh just muttered something under his breath and tried his best to ignore everyone as usual, gazing off after the mob of people headed back towards Sanville with no interest at all.

Colby just rolled her eyes and returned her attention to the gym leaders who were ten feet off, standing a couple feet apart in the direct center of the bridge. Water was on either side shining a clear blue and making the scene almost peaceful with a light breeze also present, blowing the escaped strands of Saria's hair around her face. It was as if no giant fight had just burst out less than ten minutes ago.

Smithers looked down at the gym leader who was at least a head shorter than him, trying to put into words exactly what he should say. Colby noticed his hesitance and was grateful that Saria actually broke the silence before it started to get a bit awkward.

"Well…that's that I guess. The Wailord boy was right…"

Colby couldn't help but giggle at the 'Wailord boy' comment, cracking a smile in Josh's direction. Obviously it was completely ignored, oh well. Smithers cleared his throat and ran his hand through his extremely messy, wind-blown hair and didn't make eye contact with her.

"Mhm…well…so, what does this mean for the uh, land?" Smithers asked, still putting his gaze everywhere but in the deep blue of her eyes…

"What if it was just no mans land? Able for citizen of Mayberry or Sanville to explore but without any harm coming to the land?" Riley suggested.

Saria looked at him and Smithers turned around to do the same.

"I'd say that is an alright idea. Then both of our people could benefit," Saria said with the beginnings of a smile.

Amanda looked Riley's way, brows raised, "That wasn't bad Giaden."

Riley wiggled his brows back at her, causing a blush to color her cheeks and for Amanda's glance to go the other way. He looked absolutely pleased with himself as Colby and Ellis smirked at the display of flirting that was obviously never going to end.

"So…see you around I guess," Saria stuttered, pushing the pink locks out of her face and chewing her lip a bit.

Smithers cleared his throat for about the thousandth time, "Yeah…"

Saria finally met his gaze and gave him a smile, turning on her heel and clomping off the bridge in her boots, leaving Smithers staring after her. When she disappeared from sight Smithers looked back at their group, a mix of emotions seeming to occupy his eyes.

"I'm sorry about that…I really didn't mean for it to get out of hand like that. I should have been more adult about it…" Smithers stammered.

"I enjoyed it," Josh muttered under his breath, seeming irritated and extremely sarcastic about it.

Amanda rolled her eyes, shoving Riley's draped arm (obviously he thought it was a totally nonchalant act) off of her shoulders, "Ignore him. It's alright Smithers, we're just glad everything turned out okay and that no one got seriously injured."

Colby nodded her approval but could tell Smithers still wasn't totally assured about the mistake.

"And to think it took some mere challengers to set my head straight," he murmured, running his hand through his sandy brown hair again.

"I don't mean to intrude or anything on the pity fest, but can someone explain to me who she is?" Josh asked, motioning to the woman who had originally encouraged them to help her stop the fight.

Her light brown hair swayed in the wind, matching her light brown v-neck t-shirt and silver necklace with some sort of figurine on it.

"Oh I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Lindy; I work as a Pokémon researcher and doctor at the Mayberry Safari Zone. I heard about the commotion and had to come down to see what I could do to help," Lindy explained.

"Oh I've heard of the Safari Zone before. Isn't that where a whole bunch of wild Pokémon roam? You can also take tours I think," Ellis thought aloud.

The woman nodded in his direction, folding her small arms over her chest.

"Yes, we are the main tourist attraction that Mayberry has to offer, of course besides the beautiful scenery surrounding the township itself. I just came to see what all the commotion was; not even thinking it would be some type of riot like this! Thank you for helping me break this up because if we hadn't, people could have gotten hurt," Lindy said.

Colby thought for a while… Safari Zone, it sounded like a pretty cool concept. They hadn't had anything like that back in Hecate. They were going that way anyway to go challenge the gym leader…so how about a tour? They deserved to do something laid back and interesting for a change.

"Ma'am, do you think you could give us a tour?" Colby asked.

"Field trip time?" Ellis asked with a grin.

"That's not a bad idea, it could give us an opportunity to log some new Pokémon, as well as just enjoy ourselves," Amanda said, agreeing with the idea.

Riley snaked his arms around her waist, putting his head on her shoulder.

"Oh don't worry, I'll enjoy myself. Anytime you're around," he grinned with a devilish look.

Amanda hit him in the gut, easily getting out of the hold and pushing her glasses up with a blush forming on her pale cheeks. Ellis looked at Colby and rolled his eyes, which she returned. Eventually Riley was going to get it. "Of the Safari Zone you mean? I'd love to! Wasn't actually in the process of recruiting tours this trip, but I haven't given a tour in a while, so why not!" Lindy smiled.

"How far is it from here?" Josh asked, keeping a neutral expression.

"I saw you have air transportation so it shouldn't be that long by air. Now if you were walking, that would be another story," Lindy laughed.

Smithers seemed far away; just kind of mellow and relaxed as he listened to their conversation with little interest in what was being planned at all.

"We only have these birds because Smithers's sister lent them to us when we had to get from Sanville to here in a hurry…I don't know if we can use them for much longer," Ellis explained.

Lindy's smile fell a bit, "Oh, well I understand if you can't. Are you friends of Smithers's?"

Amanda shook her head; "No actually we were challenging him when this whole crazy thing started. Just some tag-along trainers. Except for him, he's forced company."

She then proceeded to gesture to Riley, who was chatting in a low voice with Josh.

Lindy smiled, "I remember when I was young and in love-"

"We're not in love!" Amanda yelled.

"She's in denial," Riley answered.

Colby rolled her eyes, as she often did in this situation. If they kept this up her eyes would eventually roll out of her head! Riley was the one in denial!

"Will you stop your bickering? You are making me sick," Josh said.

"Can't handle too much happy," Ellis whispered from beside Colby.

"Do you need to use the birds?" Smithers asked, finally seeming to come back from dreamland.

"Yes it would be quite helpful, if you wouldn't mind of course Smithers," Amanda said politely through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes in Riley's direction (who was yet again making kissy faces).

"I liked him better when he was screaming like a girl," Josh muttered, walking a ways down the bridge and looking over the edge nonchalantly. "Well, let's just say what Lena doesn't know won't hurt her," Smithers grinned, throwing out four black Poke Balls to reveal the birds.

* * *

><p>Less than ten minutes later the Skarmorys were in flight again with everyone strapped in again. Luckily Smithers had brought an extra pair of flight goggles so Lindy could ride with them, strapped in behind Smithers. Colby and Ellis were on one, Josh on another, and Riley with Amanda on another.<p>

"Apparently the little red-headed prick didn't learn his lesson from last ride," Josh muttered as they were about to take off.

For once he did have a point because Riley was getting just as much torture this ride as before, if not more. Smithers was enjoying himself and was taking kindly to flying along with Lindy who didn't seem to mind it as much as she originally thought. After all, everyone has pre-flight jitters!

Ellis kept the reins steady as they soared in and out of the clouds; so close that Colby thought she could easily reach out to touch these billowy balls of cotton fluff. Ellis grinned back at her as they just immerged from a huge cloud, breaking out into the open air and the rolling plains Colby assumed to be a ton of miles below them.

Colby noticed Josh couldn't stop himself from smirking as he saw that Amanda was now doing practically a barrel roll in the air with Riley screaming like a banshee the whole time. He must have flirted, big surprise. Amanda was clearly enjoying this as a huge smile was plastered on her face. The four almost stayed in a straight line flying through the sky. These birds were obviously very experienced in flight because they could get where they're going quickly and relatively smoothly.

Colby couldn't wait to get to where the Safari Zone where they were going to get a tour. Who knows what all types of Pokémon could be in there! Maybe she could talk Ellis into getting some Safari Balls and catching a few new teammates.

A bunch of pointless thoughts, several horrific shrieks from Riley, and ten minutes later Smithers and Lindy started to descend. Ellis, Amanda, and Josh followed, lowering their individual birds into the stomach twisting descent. They descended where the clouds parted, seeing the blob below them that was Mayberry, aerial view.

"We're almost there!" Colby yelled to Ellis.

"I know! I can't wait for the Safari Zone tour!" He hollered back.

It wasn't all that easy to communicate without headsets since the air flying by them itself was pretty loud to start with. They made due though as always and were now about a hundred feet off the ground. Smithers and Lindy hit the ground easily, coming to a running stop and getting off of the Skarmory. Colby and Ellis landed with a thump, it being a bumpy ride until the bird came to a stop.

Ellis got off easily, helping Colby off and removing the goggles and helmet. His green hair was going in all directions, which Colby laughed at, though she knew hers was probably just as bad.

"Woo! I'm starting to take a liking to flying!" Amanda said, jumping off the bird and leaving Riley still strapped in, shaking madly and looking more chalky white than usual.

"Eh," Josh responded, recalling his Skarmory and tossing the Poke Ball to Smithers, who easily caught it.

"You're always negative Josh," Colby said.

"Well someone's got to be around all you happy people. Happiness pisses me off," Josh hissed with a frown as usual.

"Is someone going to get him?" Ellis asked, gesturing at Riley.

"For the love of God. Be a man," Josh snapped at Riley, un-strapping him and throwing the poor chump on the ground again.

He flailed around a bit before springing back up, smoothing his messed up hair.

"I-I'm alright," he stuttered, still shaken.

"Let's just get going," Amanda said with a grin the size of Subway.

"I'm all for that, we need to get these birds back to Lena before I get fried," Smithers added.

"Well that would be quite counterproductive don't you think? Follow me," Lindy said with a grin.

The rest of the birds were recalled and their crowd followed behind eagerly, Josh of course just a little behind the group acting all tough. Some things just weren't meant to be understood and Josh Hershey was certainly one of them. The road changed from dirt to paved black top and village huts, as well as some small buildings, surrounded them.

"This is Mayberry in all its glory. We don't build skyscrapers like where you are from I suppose. Our houses and buildings are older and more spread out, built for the comfort of the land and with environmental factors in mind. The Safari Zone is just out past the town square, up ahead, where the statue of an Ivysaur sits."

Colby could make out the large stone statue up ahead with various waterfalls around it, along with flowers and benches for people to just sit and observe the beauty. It seemed like a peaceful place…

"This is the great Ivysaur statue that was here when the town was established many years ago. He is to remind us that we as humans are inhabitants in this place where the wild Pokémon first roamed. We imposed on their land and we as people need to make sure that we don't take more than we need or pollute their home," Lindy continued as they neared the statue. "Normally there aren't many here…I'm surprised…what's going on?" She said aloud.

Colby looked past her, noticing several people crowded in the center by the statue, looking scared and frantic.

"It's probably just a result of the riot," Amanda suggested.

That could be a possibility, after all there were some who stormed back in this direction. Colby hoped they weren't planning another riot, what would they do then?

"What are we going to do?" Someone yelled.

"That's a sanctuary for wild Pokémon! We can't let this happen!" Another man yelled back.

From atop a bench stood gym leader Saria, looking stressed and afraid at the same time with this crowd bearing down upon her, making her seem like a small girl.

"We need to hunt them down! They are disrespecting the Pokémon's natural habitat!"

"What are we going to do Saria?"

"Calm down! Calm down! I know you are all worried but the best thing we can do in this situation is just say calm. I have sent the police to track down the thieves-"

"What good are police going to do? They haven't done anything about the other instances in this region!" A tall man in a suit yelled.

"We are powerless!" A woman shrieked.

"Please! Please townspeople! I assure you that you are all safe and we are going to get this under control! Just keep calm and the matter will be handled humanely and in the best interest of the Pokémon," Saria assured, trying her best to sound confident and convincing.

"But what if it doesn't work?" Another old man called.

"It will, I won't let anything happen to the Pokémon," Saria answered, stepping down from the bench.

"I will be helping with the rescue attempt. Please try to stay calm and try not to worry, the police and special-forces trainers have this under control."

Saria parted the crowd and came right to where Colby's group was standing, listening.

"Oh, it's you five again," she said with a faked smile.

"Saria! What is going on? I was gone for just a while and was just about to take these people on a tour of the Safari Zone," Lindy exclaimed, looking worried and out of breathe.

Saria briefly glanced at Smithers and then back at Lindy.

She seemed sad but with a sigh spilled the words, "It's the Safari Zone…it's been robbed of the Pokémon."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Well there you have it! A long awaited chapter from me, who is very bad at not procrastinating xD I'm sorry guys for the wait and I PROMISE I'll get better, no matter how long it takes. Hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading, review!**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

"It's been what?" Lindy squeaked.

"It's been robbed. Every last Pokémon has been taken. That was the report I got from the police though I haven't been over yet. I was just on my way when I ran into this frantic crowd," Saria explained with a pained expression. "By who?" Ellis asked, shocked.

"They took all of the Pokemon?" Colby echoed, mainly thinking aloud. "Apparently, yes. I don't know for a fact who but the police and townspeople are suspecting Team Lunar. They are rising up again…I just hope we as a region can take care of them," Saria answered.

"Team Lunar…" Amanda said with a frown on her face.

"We should get there quickly Saria," Smithers said, finally saying something. Saria glanced at him, pursing her lips, "For once, I think you're right."

"For once?" He said with a slight smile.

She rolled her eyes and took off forward towards the outskirts of town in a brisk walk. Colby's group followed, Lindy catching up to Saria and in heavy discussion. Riley had finally gotten back to his old self, walking to the left of Amanda and trying to grab her hand, earning him a punch each time. He seemed to be enjoying himself as usual and pushed on with his consistent flirting.

Josh had plugged his iPod back in, jamming to his extremely loud death metal and looking angry at the world as usual. Ellis was adjusted his knapsack strap and sighed.

"I can't believe that Team Lunar is able to pull off something like that. Where were the workers? How could they have just walked out with all those Pokémon?" Ellis pondered.

Colby agreed it did seem a bit silly. They had to have help, that or a really big transport vehicle.

"I know it just doesn't seem possible. It's not all that good for the Pokémon either…because we know exactly what they're going to be used for," Colby said stiffly.

It was obvious that some type of testing was going on somewhere because where would Nicksy have come from? He was the perfect example of an innocent Pokémon succumbing to these dreadful tests. Like the man in the suit had said, he was supposed to be disposed of. If Team Lunar knew that he wasn't in fact dead, that could cause some problems. But the question is…what lengths would they go to in order to make sure Nicksy was neutralized? Or would they even care?

"Yeah…testing," Ellis said with a frown.

"You know, I've been thinking about the man in the suit," Colby pondered. Ellis looked over at her, "What about him?"

"I don't know. I've just got mixed feelings about him you know? I know he said he was an ex Team Lunar agent but for some reason…I'm not sure, I just can't put my finger on it," Colby said.

"I guess I kind of get that feeling too. It's just like there is something we aren't seeing," Ellis agreed.

_Imagine that, something we're not seeing_, Colby thought. Her mind wandered as they past some small brick huts and a couple two story buildings, which seemed to be the highest that any of the structures in Mayeberry went up to. They came out onto a dirt road that had a fork up ahead, going either straight or to the right. Lindy and Saria took a right walking now rather quickly. Colby's group, including Smithers and Josh, were surprisingly able to keep up which was a good thing.

"Will you leave me alone?" Amanda exclaimed as Riley was still trying to hold her hand.

He shook his head and grinned wildly.

"Twix, c'mon, you know you like it," he purred.

"I absolutely do not!" She retorted with a blush rising on her cheeks.

Amanda pulled her Unknown cap down on her head and let her hair fall in her face, looking at the ground. Colby just rolled her eyes at them in general, like always. The wind carried down the sound of sirens and made Colby look up. Just up ahead were some flashing lights of the police officers in front of a large cylindrical shaped building, three stories tall and who knows how many square feet. The dirt parking lot was completely full with miscellaneous bikes, police motorcycles and a bunch of people. The sirens turned off as they got closer each taking in the scene that was pretty much utter chaos.

Some officers were interviewing people and taking notes on handheld devices that resembled Ellis's MID, while others were flowing in and out of the Safari Zone's building. A news crew was off in the corner doing a report of some sort and just documenting the whole case.

"Oh my…" Lindy exclaimed with wide eyes, rushing after Saria who was heading over to one of the police officers in a bright blue uniform.

Colby's group followed, scanning the scene with concern.

"Officer Parish," Saria called, approaching the officer who was talking to a reporter woman.

The officer's hair was dark blue, a bit darker than the famed Officer Jenny's hair, and she was a bit tanner, along with a leaner built.

"Excuse me for a moment ma'am," Officer Parish said, waving off the reporter for a moment.

"Are there any new leads on who might have done this?" Saria asked.

Officer Parish shook her head, "I'm afraid not Saria. The officers are inside and in the back now trying to find any more evidence, besides the one piece we have so far. Sadly that doesn't make much difference because it's pretty much useless."

Saria looked puzzled, "You have evidence?"

Officer Parish nodded, "Just a shred of cloth that was caught on the back door that happened to have a hole cut into it by someone."

"May we see it?" Amanda asked quietly.

Officer Parish looked down at her and at the rest of the group with a frown, "What are you kids doing here? This is a crime scene and we don't need any of the public to get in our way of collecting the evidence."

"It's alright, they're with me, along with Smithers here," Saria replied.

The officer pursed her lips but didn't argue, "Very well. I'll have Gibbs bring the sample over."

Officer Parish made her way into the building, going to find whoever Gibbs was. That was a good idea; maybe they could identify the sample if it was in fact Team Lunar's. How could they not forget Ronan's dorky outfits? "What's the good in that? I don't want to look at some cloth," Josh growled. "She does have a point, if it's part of Team Lunar's outfit then we'll be able to identify it for them," Colby countered.

"Yeah, and then they'll know who exactly they're hunting. Good work Amanda," Smithers congratulated.

Amanda grinned, "It really was nothing."

Officer Parish pushed one of the glass doors open; holding a sample, clear bag and holding it out for them to see. Everyone crowded around the piece of purple cloth, looking a bit like satin and torn off randomly.

"If I'm not mistaken that looks a bit like-" Riley started.

"That dumb prick Ronan's sash," Josh finished.

Colby looked at it closer and in fact Josh and Riley were right, it looked a bit like the sash that wasn't a sash on Ronan's outfit.

"I knew Team Lunar had something to do with this!" Amanda exclaimed, grinning brightly.

"Officer, we believe that this is part of one of a Team Lunar grunt's outfit. The girls wear a blue outfit and the guys wear a purple one," Ellis explained. The officer studied them closely, "And how do you kids know so much about Team Lunar?"

Colby glanced at her group, "Let's just say we've had a few run ins with them."

Lindy looked worried, "They're very dangerous. You kids should get off their radar because they could seriously hurt you. Their fair shares of disappearances to even adults have been recorded over the years, especially these past few. It seems they are growing in power."

Smithers nodded, "Lindy's right. I know you kids just want to do the right thing, but this is the reason we have officers and Special Forces. There are people trained specially with their Pokémon for jobs like this."

Colby mentally sighed; adults just underestimated them to no end. Her parents were never like that though, which is something she missed. They always encouraged getting out there and doing whatever it was. Reaching your dreams and fulfilling the tasks that others thought you would never be able to do. She was already halfway in, owning a hybrid Pokémon that should be dead, so she was already targeted anyway. What was the point of giving up now?

"We know," Ellis stated with little emotion.

"Well if you're convinced that this is part of Team Lunar's outfit…then I suppose we can consider them possibly the cause of this," Officer Parish said.

They were _just_ a possibility as to being the criminals? Who else could perform the clearing of the Safari Zone in a few hours? No one that didn't have many assistants and power, that was for sure.

"Wait…where were the employees when this happened?" Riley asked.

That was a good point; though it was surprising that it came from Giaden…he normally didn't think all that much.

Amanda crossed her arms, "That's actually a pretty good point. Lindy was away, because she came to find us."

Lindy shrugged from the left of Officer Parish, "I was off for the day and heard the commotion on my way out of town."

Officer Parish crossed her arms as well, revealing surprisingly muscled arms for a woman.

"From our reports, the work day was winding down with not too many visitors. Most had left early for the day. Only a few were on duty, as in less than ten. That is what I've been told. Strangely though, there are a few missing. At least one I should say," Officer Parish explained.

Colby's eyebrows raised, they were taking hostages now? First they take Pokémon from innocent children, and then they take innocent workers.

"Well we better get started now! They aren't going to find themselves-" Amanda started.

"Whoa there, kiddy, you and your friends can't help in this situation. The information you've given us now is more than enough, we don't want anyone else getting hurt," Officer Parish commanded firmly.

"But-"

"No buts' Amanda. You kids have been targeted by Team Lunar before…so sorry to be the party pooper but I'll have to agree with Officer Parish on this one. It's too dangerous," Smithers said with a frown.

"We're not just kids. We've beaten a pack of grunts before," Colby said, backing up Amanda to the best of her ability.

"That was a pack of grunts. You kids don't know what and who is really out there. Grunts? The lowest and least threatening of the rising force that is Team Lunar. Believe me when I say you haven't seen anything. Not what could really happen if you fell into the hands of the wrong people," Officer Parish fired back, eyes in a hardened line but also clouded with memories.

Colby mentally shook her head; this officer, and practically anyone else underestimated them. Their Pokémon were gaining in strength by day as well as their strength as a group. Just look how far they'd come in under a month. All they had experienced. _Including my experiences with Faye_ Colby thought to her self. She made a mental note to think about that again…Faye told her to be on the look out for someone, but whom?

Amanda shot her eyes to the floor, disappointment flooding her face. "Don't you guys have somewhere to be anyway? There's always the next gym! You think Smithers was easy, wait tell you take on me!" Saria exclaimed, her eyes bright.

"Actually we have something to do first. My mom told me earlier today that I forgot something, so she is bring me my stuff before we continue. I'm afraid we're going to have to let you all go," Josh said firmly, looking straight at Officer Parish's glare.

Smithers nodded, "Well then you better go. Thanks for battling, you five are amazing trainers and I wish you luck with the rest of the gyms, as well as the Elite. I believe that you can make it that far. Just remember, steer clear of Team Lunar."

"Will do, thank you Smithers, for everything," Ellis said with a smile.

"Make sure to get the birds home safe and sound!" Colby added following everyone else and Josh who were trooping back towards the city.

"Good luck!" Lindy called with a wave.

As soon as they were at least 100 yards and clearly of human hearing range, Riley broke the silence.

"We're going after them aren't we?" He asked with a smirk.

Josh looked his direction with a wry grin aimed at all of them and it was obvious what was coming, "Oh hell yeah."

* * *

><p>Approximately 28 miles in the opposite direction (starting from the tip of the claw obviously) residing on the top of a plateau was a hexagonal shaped, black building. Around this building stood no fence or any means of protection, because the whole 15 acre expanse of land was fenced in by twenty foot chain, an entrance gate with armed guards, heavy security features and camera systems, plus a whole lot of other shit that no one cared enough to mention, since it was so minor.<p>

Essentially this place was a modern castle, the symbol of strength, security, and high in stature. Inside this single story building you could almost disregard the fact that there were armed guards outside and all these advanced security features, because why were they needed? It appeared to be just a normal office setting, with umpteen halls going every which way, cubicles and offices in what seemed like every part of the building, except one half of the back that was used for a lunch and break room, along with the occasional bathroom.

Workers were busy at these desks, men and women of all different hair colors, sizes, and features, typing away or busy on their headsets. Occasionally there was a hall tree or plant in the halls, with the clean floors always shined to perfection. Though as most have yet to figure out, things are not always what they seemed. If someone were to tell a person that just underneath that calm expanse of office space was a multi-million dollar, black market, highly illegal base of operations was going on right under their feet, it would be passed off as a joke. This in fact is not a story just for good jocular, but is the truth. It is the only reason that the high security is put in place.

Down below, watching a high def, mini flat screen TV was a grunt, chin in palm and a frown on his face. He was busy replaying footage from a couple hours before, replaying the plan. In all honesty though, he couldn't care less about this footage, after all, what was the point? It was boss's orders though…eah, why didn't he do it himself?

The grunt sighed, running his hand through his brown hair and pursing his lips as he rolled over footage from less than an hour ago. This feed was live from a ridiculous excuse for a Safari Zone just outside of Mayberry. He was lucky the techy was able to hook them up with the feed because it made the monitoring job a hell of a lot easier.

He yawned, watching the useless expanse of people rush around, some talking to officers and some just standing around in some form of shock. The grunt rolled his eyes, not sure exactly what he was supposed to be looking out for, and hit fast forward a bit. The replay was boring so far, so why not go to the present instead of watching the useless past- He stopped, pressing the pause button firmly. Was it...? Could it be?

Thinking he saw something, he rewound it a bit slower this time, stopping just before. Sure enough, five kids just a year or two under his age walked over with this man and two women to talk to a blue haired officer. He squinted at the screen, rubbing his eyes after an hour or so of looking at a TV. No…it couldn't be… He noticed the one on the far left that had unmistakable flaming red hair, getting pushed away by a shorter girl with long brown hair. To the left was the girl with blonde hair and black streaks, and the green headed boy. To the right of him was the bitchy, dark haired, trench coat wearing all season kid.

It was true, that was them…but what were they doing at the Safari Zone? Do those kids have to stick their nose in everything that was his business? It was imperative that he got things done _now _because Team Lunar was beginning to rise to power again. Oh boy, was he proud to be a part of history in the making of the new world. Now if he only could get that promotion…even though he was head of all grunts.

"Ronan! What the hell are you doing?" A voice shouted, followed by a bright wave of light where the door opened on the pitch-black room, accept for him and his screens.

Ronan realized he was almost an inch away from the screen with his eyes wide and mouth open. He jumped at the sound of a voice, slamming back into his rolley chair and sitting up.

"Uh…nothing…" He stuttered, trying to compose himself again after being startled. Ronan's vision cleared up a bit and he recognized the person screaming at him, of course the same as usual.

Sarafine stood there, hands on her hips and her long black hair everywhere as usual. She was just a bit under him in the commanding of the grunts, and of course second in command of his normal scout team which consisted of her boyfriend Monty, the extremely tall stocky guy, and Desmond, taller blonde grunt.

"I don't mean to interrupt your little make out session with the computer, but the boss wants to speak to you," Sarafine snapped, her lip twitching with irritation.

Ronan narrowed his eyes, "Who pissed you off now?"

"No one surprisingly, accept you! Because you won't get off your lazy ass when the boss called three times. You didn't answer your phone, so he told me physically inform you," Sarafine said.

Ronan's posture went from irritated to alert in the expanse of a second, leaping up out of the chair. He jammed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a little black flip phone, reading 3 Missed Calls and seeing they were in fact from the boss…oh he was going to be royally pissed.

"Oh…" Ronan said softly.

Sarafine rolled her eyes, "If you want to keep your position, I would suggest getting downstairs, now."

Ronan gave her a crisp nod, passing her and starting off down the tile and white painted concrete hallways. This was the last of the lower floors, going down to 14 with this being 1 below the decoy floor, that wasn't finished with construction. They had to finish the walls, as well as add a few more lights to the ceiling, but it wasn't too bad. Ronan dodged a worker who was on a ladder, fixing a panel light, and headed down the hall, taking a sharp left down an identical hall.

Good thing he knew the ins and outs of this place like the back of his hand, otherwise getting lost in this maze would be easy. For many of the new grunts it was confusing, but eventually you picked it up. He walked to the end of that hallway and chose the door just a bit larger than all the others. He rapped on it a couple times before slowly turning the doorknob and easing the door open.

The room was lit up due to the lamp on the normal sized oak desk and of course the light system built into the ceiling. Ronan was surprised, usually the only light was on was the one on his desk.

"Come in," a calm voice said.

Ronan shut the door and glanced at the boss, who had his big black chair facing forward, making himself not visible at all.

"Sit, please," he said, obviously meaning the two leather chairs seated in front of his neat desk.

Ronan did as he was told, taking a seat in the left chair, anticipating to be yelled at.

"How did this today's raid go?" He asked, still not turned around.

"Very well sir, we acquired at least 120 Pokémon which will be used to test our latest serum. I think our operations came clean…" Ronan replied.

The boss paused, "Why hesitation on the last sentence?"

Ronan furrowed his brow, sitting up and wanting to squirm in his seat. What should he tell him? That some kids were potentially jeopardizing this? "No hesitation sir," Ronan said firmly.

"Have you seen that the Pokémon are placed in the area where I asked?" The boss asked.

"Yes sir, that was taken care of as soon as we got back sir," Ronan answered. "Wonderful. I look forward to what Team Lunar is going to be in the future Ronan. I also look forward to you being my head man in that future," the boss said.

Ronan smiled, being thrilled at this information. At least he wasn't getting criticized for not answering his phone.

"Well I suppose that is all I had to say, you are free to go back to your duties," he said.

"Thank you very much sir. If there's anything else I can do for you please let me know," Ronan replied, standing.

"I will my good boy," the boss said simply.

With that, Ronan took his leave, heading back to the security room to hopefully not get caught while he took a little nap… so much for exceptional employee.

* * *

><p>Back in Sanville everyone was super shocked to see the abomination Josh had pulled out of his backpack, in the middle of a store. Luckily there was no one around when he pulled out an assortment of equipment that looked like it came out of a spy movie.<p>

"Where did you get all of this stuff?" Ellis whispered.

"Let's just say I'm prepared for anything," Josh sighed.

"He has connections," Amanda said with shifty eyes.

"Hey guys! I found some!" Riley shouted from the other side of the store.

An older worker gave them a dirty look, which Josh returned. He was so kind. Colby and Amanda walked over to where he was. Joy was practically radiating from Riley as he flailed his arms about, gesturing to the rack in front of him. It was filled with what looked like skintight jumpsuits, jet black. Colby and Amanda looked at each other as he held one up to him.

"These are perfect!" He exclaimed.

"Uh…" Amanda said, trying to scoot away from the rack.

"I think I'll stick with the loose, flowy pants. They're better to fight in…" Colby said, taking her leave with Amanda to find some more comfortable clothes.

Riley still fell in love with the jumpsuit, picking it out to everyone's horror. Josh and Ellis settled on loose fitting sweat pants, and Amanda and Colby about the same. They were in all black, traditional ninja material. An hour or so later, everyone was changed and they took to the streets at dusk, backpacks on backs and Poke Balls ready if need be.

Everyone was in one line walking down the dirt road, headed towards a place that Ellis had mapped out, since he was the techy. This location couldn't be exact…but it would get them close to where they needed to be, the Team Lunar base on this side of the region. That had to be where they had taken the Pokémon. Their mission: to get each and every one of them back unharmed.

Ellis was assigned the techy work; Josh and Colby were fighters (both knowing a bit of Martial Arts. Colby was taught the basics by her father and continued to blue belt, and Josh just liked to pick fights.)

Amanda was the breaking and entering specialist, and Riley was the distraction. That tight fitting jumpsuit was definitely distracting. More like disturbing.

"Are you guys ready for this?" Ellis asked with an excited grin.

"Breaking and entering is the only way to go," Josh replied firmly.

Amanda smiled, "Lets prove them wrong and get those Pokémon back!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: :D yayyyy now we get to go on a spy mission! Review if you'd like, because I would like it berry berry much C: thanks and enjoy my lovely readers**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty-Six

Less than two hours later it was totally dark. They had made surprisingly good time on foot toward the Team Lunar base.

"How were you even sure where this was? I thought that it was supposed to be secret…" Amanda whispered as they neared the lit complex that was visible over hills ahead.

What was going to be a challenge in Colby's opinion was getting over that huge wall of fence. According to Josh he had this all covered, so everyone just pretended everything was under control.

"Did I not explain this many times before? I have my resources," Josh snapped.

Josh dug into his bag and pulled out what looked like five black earpieces with a wire and clip on the end, handing them to Ellis who began o distribute them.

"Here, stick these in your ear. This way you can hear your orders. I will wire into their security cameras and will be able to tell you who is where and more importantly where the Pokémon are being stored," Ellis said, handing Colby her little ear bud.

She stuck it in her ear and clipped the wire onto the collar of her shirt, keeping her attention on Ellis.

"Josh had the map of this place, on the ground floor that is, below that we don't have eyes yet. Our best bet is to get through this fence and get up on the roof to one of the air vents. Riley…I have something separate for you though," Ellis said, turning to Riley with a bit of hesitation.

Riley seemed to perk up at the mention of it, "Anything. Especially if it involves something wacky."

Ellis chuckled, lighting up his blue eyes, "Believe me, it is far more than wacky."

Riley grinned like a mad man and Ellis took him off a ways away, separate from the other group that consisted of Amanda, Colby, and Josh. They were grabbing their backpacks, light, but at the same time stuffed with Josh's gear that no one even knew why the hell he had. Was he a spy in his past life? No one thought to question it though because every time anyone said something he just brushed it off mumbled something no one could understand as a legible answer.

"Alright, I'd say that's about it," Ellis declared, coming back with Riley in tow and beaming like an idiot.

Good Stellar Spirits, what was Ellis having Riley do? Amanda gave Colby a nervous look, which she returned. Hopefully this went as planned…

"Move out soldiers, let's go get those Pokémon!" Ellis beamed, sticking his ear bud with microphone connected, like all of the other ones.

"Testing testing," Ellis said into through the earpiece as Colby, Amanda, and Josh headed off in a separate direction from Riley.

"Loud and clear," Amanda said while grinning into the earpiece.

It was like they were living an adventure from something out of one of those spy movies!

"Wonderful, now I gave Josh basic instruction but I will explain it to you two. Riley already has his orders, so just ignore this for now Riley," Ellis said. Riley snorted, "I ignore you anyway."

Ellis sighed through the microphone, "Anyway…for the rest of you. Our mission is clear but it seems that it could in fact be a bit challenging. Ahead of you should be the fence," in fact they were approaching the at least 20 foot fence, "and we obviously need to get through or over this obstruction. Which could be a problem, but thanks to Josh's help and abundance of equipment, isn't," Ellis explained.

They reached the fence, standing in a small group and awaiting orders from Ellis, but not daring to touch the fence itself in case of electrocution or something.

"Yeah yeah, whatever, just get on with it," Josh muttered.

"With pleasure. Josh has a hand held blowtorch for you and you can guess what we're going to do. I'm not sure if that fence is electric or not, but I do know that you need to get through it regardless," Ellis finished.

Amanda's eyes got wide as Josh passed her a small silver handled object that she recognized as the blowtorch. As Colby received hers, it felt heavy in her gloved hand.

"We need to get this done as soon and as swiftly as possible. I've hacked into the basic security camera system, Riley, so you should be good to go as soon as I get conformation that they're in. There are a couple guards at the entrance, discreet of course, but I don't see any around the outside perimeter. Still we can't be too safe, so speed is key here. Begin."

Josh nodded to Colby and Amanda as he held down a little red button on the handle of the torch. Out of the nozzle came a bright bluish white flame, making a strange sound as it awaited use.

"Well go on," Josh insisted.

Colby nodded to Amanda and they each pressed the button on their torch with blue flames appearing from theirs also. Josh started on the left side and was careful not to touch the fence as he shoved the flame through the metal. It made a sizzling noise and excreted a smell of burning metal as the torch cut through the chain somewhat easily.

Colby started on the bottom and slowly brought the torch up as it cut through links of metal with Amanda doing the same above her. Moving as fast as possible they sliced through the metal and exchanged grins as a half oval shape fell to the ground in front of them and allowing them to each slip through the hole easily.

They didn't bother with the chunk of chain link that was on the ground and were now inside the perimeter of the area. Josh collected the blowtorches and stuck them back into his black backpack that looked like it weighed a ton.

"We're through," Josh said into the microphone.

"Excellent! Now comes the next phase and what I think of as the harder part. Keep heading in the direction you're going until you get about fifty feet 20 or so feet away from the building. I will then direct you to an area where I believe a ladder is located for easy roofing purposes, but that's just guessing. Riley you sit tight," Ellis asked.

"I'm not sitting, but my clothes are pretty tight," Riley answered smugly.

Amanda frowned, it's not like anyone was appreciating that. Josh just ignored the redheaded idiot singing something asinine into his ear and led their small group towards the looming shape of the building. It was barely lit up with only a few lights switched on from the cubicles but other than that no light was present outside. This building wasn't supposed to be noticed after all, so why attract more attention than necessary? Team Lunar's motives may be brilliantly thought up, but the idiots who executed them sometimes messed it up.

They were the required distance from the building now, which was welcomed by Colby and Amanda so Riley would shut the hell up.

"We're here," Colby yelled into the microphone to silence Riley.

"Shhh!" Josh hushed.

"Alright, now to your left about another twenty feet on the south side of the building will be a ladder. It will be a bit difficult to see in contrast with the darkness, but use your flashlights carefully. I don't believe anyone has seen you yet which is good, so just be careful here," Ellis ordered.

They were nearing one of the lit up windows and were able to duck under hopefully without being noticed. The dark night wasn't the most favorable to work their way around in but it did provide excellent cover for their operation.

"There," Colby pointed, gesturing to a ladder that was barely visible in the moonlight, fifteen feet above…and not reaching down anywhere near to where they could grab it.

"It doesn't fully go to the ground," Amanda said.

"You wouldn't expect it to. They don't want intruders Amanda," Ellis chuckled.

"Well then how…?" Colby questioned, then was silent as Josh began rummaging in his bag again.

"Of course, Josh has everything in that bag," Amanda said with an eye roll.

Josh pulled out what looked like a big shotgun with a grappling hook on the front…sort of like a launcher for the hook or something. How does he fit all this shit in his backpack? For that was the ultimate question for the rest of forever.

"Oh great Stellar Spirits," Colby exclaimed.

That earned her barely a half smile from Josh, which was quite rare, as he zipped up his backpack again and put it on his back. Holding the device firmly in hand he began to start instruction.

Josh looked at them, "Obviously we can't just climb up there because we don't have any foot holes. If we did Amanda probably would be able to, but that isn't the case. So, this is what we're going to do."

Like a silent killer would strike, he pulled the trigger on the black handle of the gun. The hook on it shot up to where he aimed it, almost perfectly hooking itself to the top rung of the metal ladder. It made a ting noise as it connected and attached itself to the metal but other than that it was silent.

Amanda was watching diligently and Colby was trying to keep her mouth from dropping open in surprise. Where did he learn all this stuff?

Josh unhooked some rope from this backpack along with a harness and attached the two together. The grappling gun was anchored to the ground and the cord was pulled taunt along the side of the building with just enough in a break of tension so you could grip the cord. Josh wrapped the strange looking harness around him and attached it to the cord, placing two hands on the rope and pulling back the slightest.

"This should be the easiest for Amanda because she is used to Free Running with Zero. Colby, it shouldn't be too hard," Josh instructed.

"If it's a challenge, then I'll take it," Colby said with a grin.

"That's the spirit!" Ellis encouraged.

"I'm going to go up and then I'll send the rope and harness down for you both," Josh said.

He then pulled the rope back and swung both of his feet up, making him almost perpendicular to the wall. He looked back and gave them a grin as he swiftly ran up the wall in a matter of about ten seconds, reaching the top with ease.

"Not bad Hershey, not bad," Colby congratulated with a wry grin.

Josh unhooked himself from where he was on top of the building, looking down at them. The harness slid down on the cord and fell into Amanda's hands. Josh tossed yellow and red rope down as well, securing it on the rung of the ladder so they could walk up the wall easier.

"This is the closest to a ninja I'm ever going to be," Amanda said with a giggle.

Her eyes were lit up as the harness was secured, giving her an opportunity to grip the rope. She pulled it taunt and swung both feet up on the wall just as Josh had done. With a couple swift bounds she was on the building as well. Josh gave her a nod as she took of the harness, sending it down to Colby.

"Bring the grappling gun when you go up. Don't want anyone to find that," Ellis reminded her.

"Will do commander Corona," Colby teased.

She stuffed the gun into her bag; glad it would barely fit (with half of it sticking out the back of the pack) and secured the harness around her middle. Then grabbing the rope firmly she took a deep breath, swinging her feet to meet the wall.

It was like a feeling of being upside down, only with a bit more awkwardness to it. She ignored that unsettling feeling in her stomach and pulled herself up on the rope, walking along the side of the hexagonal building. Before she knew it she was at the top and grabbed Josh's strong hand to help pull her up. The dizziness disbanded as she realized she'd done it! Who said walking on walls wasn't possible? Josh Hershey, defying all laws of physics. "That was awesome!" Colby exclaimed, somewhat out of breath.

Josh removed the gun from her backpack and somehow folded it up to where it was compact enough to stuff in the backpack. So that's how he fit it in there! Amanda was winding up the rope and clipped it to the backpack, getting all their stuff ready. With everything stuffed back in Josh's backpack, they crept on the roof, not seeing much except for a concrete roof.

"Everyone up?" Ellis asked into the microphone.

"We're clear," Josh responded succinctly.

"Moving right along. It doesn't look like much now but there should be a silver object over in the right corner. It is an air shaft I believe…so classic spy movie style you should be able to craw through the air ducts to a neutral room on the first floor," Ellis explained.

"When do I get to go," Riley whined into the microphone.

"In a moment, we need to make sure these three get in first," Ellis sighed.

Just like he said in the right corner from where they were standing was a silver air duct that came out of the building to filter air. They hustled over to it and Josh dropped his bag down, pulling out the blowtorches again. He tossed one to Colby and together they swiftly began cutting a hole in the side for entrance. The heat of the fire was unimaginable and almost burnt her even though it wasn't close to her skin.

Like the last one they were able to cut easily but this time Josh grabbed the cut out piece, lowering it to the ground easily so it wouldn't make any noise to alert Team Lunar of their presence.

"You're actually a pretty good spy Josh," Amanda praised.

Josh just grunted and stuffed the crap back in his pack, looking down into the hole in the air duct they just made. He had a flashlight in poised in his left hand as he examined the duct. It went straight down approximately five feet into the main air ducts that would branch off all over the ceiling of the building. Normally it would be a challenging task but since they had Ellis at command central feeding them directions, it didn't seem like that much of a challenge. The ducts were going to be small, but hopefully enough for them all to fit.

"I'm going first. It doesn't look like that big of a drop. Don't fall down and alert the whole damn army of useless grunts if you can keep from it," Josh muttered.

He climbed through the hole and with a little bit of squeezing he fit, then his head vanished as he dropped silently.

"Next," Josh hissed into the microphone.

Amanda gave Colby a reassuring look as she climbed through the hole carefully, dropping as lightly as possible and moving over beside Josh in an army crawl since the duct was so small. A couple seconds later Amanda dropped as well and joined them in an army crawl. For sake of space they all had to follow each other on their hands and knees, being as quiet as possible. "In?" Ellis spoke into their ears.

"Affirmative Captain," Amanda said with a quiet laugh.

"Next step…now if my map of their heating and cooling system is correct…I think you need to go left and take a right at the next crossing. I'm aiming to get you into a break room, so there shouldn't be anyone in there considering the 'offices' are closed," Ellis mumbled, with the sound of rustling paper in the background.

"There shouldn't be any guards anywhere though…it's supposed to be a closed office building," Colby pointed out.

"But this is one of Team Lunar's bases. Do you really think it's going to go unguarded?" Josh hissed.

"Point taken," Amanda whispered.

"Just be careful. When traveling through the air ducts crawl as quiet as possible because we don't want them alerted. I can see there are in fact guards roaming the halls, on the first floor at least. The basement…that's another story," Ellis instructed.

"Will do," Amanda confirmed.

They shuffled along in a single file line with Josh in the lead, Amanda in the middle, and Colby bringing up the rear. The air ducts were tight and cramped, the small space making Colby a bit nervous. It wasn't panic attack drastic but she knew she wanted to get out as soon as possible. Occasionally their knees would make a bending metal sound, which wasn't good but for the most part they were doing a good job of going at a good pace that wasn't causing suspicion, hopefully.

They reached the crossing and took a right like Ellis said, now feeling a bit of a cool breeze from the direction they were now going.

"Keep going, pass this next crossing and then take another left on the next one," Ellis directed.

They kept crawling in silence to the check point Ellis was talking about where Josh then lead the troop down the duct.

"Okay you should just keep following this and pass over a couple vents…be careful, you want the second one, not the first. Be careful not to fall through either," Ellis warned.

Close to the end of the duct they made out some light, contrasting to the dark they'd become used to.

"The one that's lit up correct?" Colby asked, carefully crossing the other vent that a dark office could be seen below.

"Yep!" Ellis replied succinctly.

Josh got on the left side of the vent and peeked down into the room that appeared to be an empty break room. A drink and snack machine sat in the corner along with a couple scattered tables. It didn't appear that anyone was in the room, good news.

Josh rummaged through his backpack and pulled out some contraption…it turned out to be a normal hook with this super strong magnet attached to it. He looped the rope through hook and secured it before letting it stick to the metal of the duct.

"Clever," Colby said with a smile as Josh began to lower himself (after removing the vent itself) to the ground of the break room.

Colby and Amanda followed soon after and they breathed a sigh of relief as they realized they were finally inside. They hadn't been detected yet which really surprised Colby. Luckily this room had no windows and the door seemed to be shut. It smelled sort of like bleach for whatever reason, making Colby's nose wrinkle.

Josh put a finger up to his ear as he spoke, "Houston, we have landing. I repeat, we're in."

Back at base of operations Ellis smiled, "Riley, you may begin."

* * *

><p>"Ronan, boss needs you again," Sarafine snapped from the opposite end of the hall.<p>

Ronan stopped, for God's sake; he hadn't even made it an hour before evidently the boss had something else to say. Sarafine narrowed her brown eyes as he muttered something and stomped away in a huff, running his hand through his light brown hair. Sometimes it was hard to do what he did, but the position was worth it…so until that time he just had to grit his teeth and do the boss's will.

He pushed past a couple of the blue headed grunts, twins, from Mitheral or something and stomped back down to the hallway where the boss had his office. The boss had better not be yelling at him to get what was previously assigned done, because that was just unrealistic time…especially for him.

Ronan was all about getting things done, but that wasn't possible. Ronan approached the doors and didn't bother to knock, but just went in. "Sir?" Ronan called.

He was as usual sitting with the back of his chair facing the doors where Ronan was standing.

"My apologies for bothering you again but the mechanic for basement floor one is off duty on a mission. I just need a simple thing done and I figured it would be on your way down to the lower floors. Is the air conditioning on? I've heard a pop or two that I believe is coming from the vents," the boss blabbered.

Ronan mentally rolled his eyes, why couldn't he get someone else with less important shit to do? It was just checking on an air vent for God's sake. "Yes sir, I'll take care of it. I'll have one of the others convey the information as soon as possible sir," Ronan replied.

"Wonderful, that's all. You may exit-"

Just as he was about to turn on his heel Ronan stopped short. The intercom hissed like it was coming on. Those hadn't been used for a while now…unless of course there was an emergency, which is what they were built for. Each one of these babies was positioned through out the halls and in some of the rooms in order to alert Team Lunar if something was going on. The perimeter had been secured…hadn't it?

The static stopped and some interesting bopping music began to play…it was unlike any other he had ever heard. It was a strange mix of sounds and as it kept playing Ronan's confusion deepened. Who the hell was responsible for this prank? The grunts weren't supposed to be immature assholes, but it turns out most of the newbie's are. This was a highly important position in an organization that will soon rule the region. Whoever was responsible for this would be severely punished. The words finally came, blasting two times as loud, as Ronan's confusion deepened…what was this?

"I'm sexy and I know it."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh lordy, that was fun to write :P I am in the process of writing the next chapter, so sorry for the cliffy! This next chapter will be CRAZY, with lots of Riley, that you obviously don't want. Hope you enjoyed, and PLEASE REVIEW SO I CAN KNOW WHAT MY WONDERFUL READERS THINK :)**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

While Ronan was being extremely confused down in the lower levels of the building, the abashment seemed to be all the greater on the first level of Team Lunar's underground base that appeared to be an innocent office building. Riley Giaden was in fact putting on quite a show, recognizing his cue immediately as Ellis has tapped into the unused intercom system in order to play the song, of Riley's personal favorites of course, that would serve as his lead for distraction. However it was extremely horrendous and makes you want to gag on the suggestive scale. This of course, was irrevocably and wholly Riley's goal from the bottom of his fuzzy heart.

On the other hand, Ellis wasn't all too thrilled by the idea. He reluctantly accepted when he did realize that Riley's efforts as a distraction would work all too well. Disgustingly well. And he was 110 percent right.

So there Ellis was, sitting cross-legged in the middle of a forest well outside the Team Lunar base, watching this revolting distraction that Riley had came up with. Slipping him in was the easy part, just tranquilizing the guards for a nice little sleep and then getting the buffoon through the doors on his cue.

This plan had been executed perfectly, now all he had to do was perform the distraction while Colby, Amanda, and Josh headed down to the Pokémon storage to free them. This was the climax of their elaborate plan, but not the most fool proof. If one thing went wrong, if they or Riley got caught...well they were screwed. These annoying assholes had dealt with the gang once or twice, so they wouldn't hesitate to take drastic if one of them was caught...which wasn't a good thing. Especially if Ronan got a whiff of this exploitation pie, which so far was baking golden in the oven of success.

Ellis brought his focus back to the computer monitor which their base of operations was dependent on, sighing deeply into his headset and rubbing his temples at the sight he was witnessing through the Team Lunar base cameras, that he'd hacked of course. Great Stellar Spirits...it was simply indescribable the moves that Riley was performing, in that horrendous outfit too.

Merely thirty minutes ago Ellis had tried his best to convince the flaming headed nightmare that what he was wearing was simply...well...horrible. Even if this was a distraction, couldn't the eyes of his fellow teammates be spared? Riley had just snorted and called him some offensive names, insisting that his outfit would 'be irresistible to the ladies'. Ellis chastised himself for not holding his tongue as he watched Riley's skin tight, black jump suited form strut through the halls in ways that could make Ellis's skin crawl with disgust. Oh he was right when he said it would be distracting, and not in a good way.

On the flipside, Riley was having the time of his life. As he looked in the glass earlier, using it as a mirror before his time to shine, checking himself out and liking what he saw. The ladies would be all over him, and this outfit was defiantly a keeper.

As he danced through that hallway with the music blaring through the loud speaker, he could just imagine what incredible sexiness was radiating from that bod. He thought he was hot stuff.

Riley glanced around, his dancing being a cross between a person having a seizure and a clumsy person trying to look smooth, and noticed that the grunts had finally started to notice something. Many of them were running up and down the hallways ahead, shouting to each other over the blaring music, not seeing Riley coming upon them yet. He couldn't help but grin devilishly; they were in for a show. He slowed his pace to a leisurely walk, swaying with grace (he thought) and waited.

Finally some blonde grunt noticed, calling something out and pointing to him. All heads in the hallway turned his way as he strutted towards them, a slap happy grin plastered to his face.

"Intruder!" One yelled.

Back at base camp, Ellis held his breath as his eyes were glued to the screen, hoping that Riley wouldn't screw up. If this vital part went wrong they were surely done for.

Riley though had this all under control, it was his time to shine, his time to blow their minds. Noticing there even was a girl grunt down the hall, he took that as his cue to move it. Throwing up his hands and waving them around Riley signaled Ellis for the song to replay, with the words to it memorized by Riley's heart as well as his small brain. The green-headed technician on the other end did as the signal required, cringing as he was about to perform his 'Riley Signature'.

Waiting for the words to come, he began to strut forward, all eyes on him, as he made window washing then began to sing along with the music...horribly. Ellis's poor ears almost bleed...because he was as bad at dancing as he was at singing.

_When I walk on by, girls be lookin like damn he fly. _

Riley looked directly at the girl grunt, winking, then doing some sort of hip thrust, and made a kissy face all at the same time. It seemed as if the grunts were now perplexed more than anything, with the lot of them standing there with stupid looks on their faces. The girl seemed horrified, making a choking noise and looking at him with horror as he continued to pelvic thrust in a circle as he kept going down the hallway.

_I pimp to the beat, walking down the street in my new lafreak, yeah. _

Ellis tried to keep his eyes on the screen, realizing with a sad realization that this was working. How could Riley could have been right? He hadn't the slightest clue...but at least it was working! Just at this small feat Ellis felt tremendous success, but it wasn't over yet.

Riley danced around, adding a pelvic thrust to about every move. Each move and the look on his face showed that he was extremely proud of himself, and enjoying every moment of this.

_This is how I roll, animal prints, pants outta control. It's Redfoo with the big afro. And like Bruce Leroy I got the glow. _

Riley turned around in mid twirl, wiggling his butt and jumping backwards at the same time, tripping over himself many times but surprisingly not falling on his face. The grunts, as well as Ellis, looked horrified at the display of the worst dancing anyone in the region had probably ever witnessed. The most inappropriate too. Whether this was worth having nightmares for the rest of his life or not...Ellis was unsure. _Ah...girl look at that body. Ah...girl look at that body. Ah...girl look at that body. Ah, I work out. _

All the while Riley was approaching some short grunt that was very muscular at the same time. He looked stony faced, but that quickly changed to shock at Riley's next move.

_Ah...girl look at that body. Ah...girl look at that body. Ah...girl look at that body. Ah, I work out. _

Riley flexed his pathetic muscle as he leaned against the grunt, wiggling his eye brows and singing along. The grunt instinctively stepped back, looking surprised as Riley did the same thing to the guy beside him. _When I walk on the spot, this is what I see. Everybody stops, and they starin at me. I got passion in my pants and I ain't afraid to show it, show it, show it. _

He continued pelvic thrusting in a circle until the music stopped. Then in the middle of the hall he stopped, looking down and standing completely still.

_I'm sexy and I know it. I'm sexy and I know it. _

Ellis recognized the next move he executed, because he was sure to mention it earlier. Riley said it was called...the Michael Jackson? Whoever that was. Just as he'd demonstrated earlier Riley snapped his head up, shooting one hand above his head and bringing the other to grab his crotch, dancing around. The horror was simply too much to bear as he moves to the next move, backwards burneying further down the hallway.

_Yeah, when I'm at the mall security guard just can't fight em off. And when I'm at the beach I'm in a Speedo trying to tan my cheeks. _

Ellis was just about through watching when Riley did something...he couldn't even describe it anymore. After some more pelvic thrusting Riley grabbed fistfuls of his skin tight jumpsuit, pulling with all his might. Just like it was planned that way, all of his clothes ripped off...except for a small black Speedo that could blind a person. Ellis cringed away from the screen, watching as he let the fabric drop and continued the obscene routine. Dear Stellar Spirits, just why.

Ellis finally had all he could take and turned his attention back to the other monitor, displaying the Josh Cam, the Colby Cam, and the Amanda Cam as he liked to call them. While Riley was 'distracting' Colby, Josh, and Amanda had managed to expertly sneak down a few floors, not having to harm anyone yet. Most of the grunts weren't paying attention, preoccupied on trying to get this horrible music stopped.

As of right now they were descending the last floor, and directly below them was a storage facility that by Ellis's hacking of the cameras, housed the stolen Pokémon. Though to Ellis's dismay, the level that they needed to be on housed at least ten grunts, looking irritated but still guarding the doors to each of the storage rooms that the Pokémon were being held captive in. With a sigh Ellis realized things could get a bit up close and personal. That's where Josh and Colby came in.

"Ellis to Josh, come in Josh," Ellis said into his headset.

"Josh here," a voice muttered.

"By the looks of these cameras we have company downstairs. It's going to be tricky, but we have about ten of them hanging out in the halls. If you could get to the room on the end through the air duct then we may be able to work something out," Ellis instructed, studying the map in his lap while chewing his lip in concentration.

There was a grunt through the mic as Josh cleared his throat, shuffling around in the air duct. Those things were a bitch to navigate sometimes.

"Right, we can handle it I'm sure. These assholes won't suspect a thing thanks to this nauseating music. What the hell you got Giaden doing?"

Ellis didn't respond, Josh would be horrified. Glancing back at Riley's monitor he gulped as Riley was now being chased down the hall, flailing his arms around and screaming from the pack of grunts that looked pissed. This could either go very good...or very bad.

"Look that isn't important," Ellis answered, saving himself, "you just need to worry about the Pokémon. I don't know how much longer we have." "In other words hurry my ass up, got ya," Josh responded gruffly.

"Hear that girls? Limited time only, but this isn't a sale," Ellis grinned.

He could just see Colby and Amanda rolling their eyes; he was surely the joke master of the group. Even if sometimes his jokes were really bad, no one (but Josh or Riley) could argue that sometimes one didn't need a good joke.

"Gotcha Captain Corona," Amanda replied.

"Aye mate," Colby replied in her best imitation of a pirate.

"Dropping to the room now, over and out," Josh said curtly, obviously ending the communication for a moment.

Colby was relieved as they jumped down from the vent into a dark room, taking a deep breath of air. The vents were stuffy, compact, and just plain uncomfortable to travel in. Josh steadied her arm as she landed safely, moving out of the way so he could do the same for Amanda. Her brown hair fell into her eyes, landing in its normal spot covering half of her face.

Tossing it out to of the way, Amanda adjusted her belt, containing the equipment she would need to release the Pokémon.

"Go," Josh commanded, putting his finger on his earpiece as Ellis filled him in with the plan.

Everyone listened intently as jobs were explained, turning out to be simple enough. This was it, the big moment, what they had traveled all this way to do. They couldn't mess this up, because if it failed then they were all Poke Toast. Especially if Ronan found out, if he even was in the building.

"Now luckily for us we have sort of a straight shot out of here...there are stairs at the other end of the hall that lead straight up the six levels you came down. If you can manage to free the Pokémon and herd them up the stairs and straight out the front gate...then we will be in good shape. From there on we can lead them further out into the woods somehow and I can inform the officer about it, saying we found them in the woods while on our way to the next town. Capeesh?"

Colby exchanged glances with Amanda, who was adjusting the bolt clippers on her belt. Colby slipped on her black fingerless gloves, flexing her hand in preparation for what they were about to do.

Josh looked at the girls, giving strict nods, "We ready?"

Amanda and Colby looked at each other in agreement before returning the nod.

"Let's get this show on the road," Amanda replied, a determined look in her green eyes.

Colby and Josh gave their backpacks to Amanda, who carried them with a bit of an effort at first, but seemed perfectly able to handle herself. With one last look at the camera and a prayer sent up to the Stellar Spirits, Ellis spoke.

"Proceed."

* * *

><p>There's always something that people don't know about each other, and one of those things Ellis <em>didn't <em>realize, until he was told, was that Colby and Josh were both trained in a 'martial art' as they'd put it. When Ellis asked the details, Josh had put it in simpler terms. Basically they could kick ass.

That was good enough for Ellis, but he really got the impression of what they were talking about when Josh threw open the door, grabbing the guy guarding it in a fierce headlock, with him suspecting nothing. In the blink of an eye he was on the floor, unconscious because of something Colby had done to his neck, but Ellis's eyes weren't fast enough for her and Josh's movements.

Amanda burst through the door, following her orders as sent by Ellis himself, hopefully making this plan ingenious. Amanda could feel the adrenaline pumping through her as she threw her Poke Ball into the air, out popping Zero in all his glory. Her trusty Pokémon looked confused at first, but snapped his head to where Amanda was giving her his full attention.

Meanwhile the grunts in the hall had noticed. Big time. At first they looked shocked to see two figures in jumpsuits beating their comrade, but then they too jumped into attention. They were all guys, obviously inexperienced in hand to hand combat because their blows were sluggish and much anticipated. Colby and Josh were finding it fairly easy, easy as it could be with eight guys trying to attack you at the same time, to stand their ground.

They paid no attention to the little brown haired girl with a Zorura sneaking past and heading straight for what they were protecting.

"Zero, shift," Amanda said, speaking with authority, but being gentle at the same time.

The Pokémon seemed to know exactly what its master wanted, because it did something incredible. Just like the many Free Running practices they had on the roofs, Zero was able to shift into different forms. For an expert disguise, it shifted into an exact copy of its trainer.

Amanda beamed at Zero, who was now an exact copy of herself, and moved toward the doors. Luckily Zero had mastered that ability thanks to their hours of dedicated training, and it was finally paying off. Whoever ran across these two would be very confused, which was the goal. They wouldn't know which the real Amanda was!

Just as the plan ordered, Amanda pushed open the now unguarded door easily, surprised that she wouldn't have to cut a lock or have Ellis hack a keypad. Boy, for being the 'superior race' Team Lunar sure was dumb. Zero slipped in behind her, nudging the door closed. Of course the lights were off, plunging the two in total darkness.

"Zero, find the lights," Amanda whispered.

She could hear their cries before she could actually see them, howls of protest and helplessness. Zero found the lights, illuminating the room and revealing at least a dozen cages on either side of the walkway. The rest of the room appeared to be filled with storage of some kind, with boxes lining the walls over her head. She didn't have time to admire the scenery, which wasn't that good to start with. Like Ellis had said, limited time.

Quickly Amanda ran over to the cages, filled to the brim with innocent Pokémon waiting to have who knows what done with them. Not on her watch! Just as she suspected the metal cages were locked shut, which would be a challenge to pick if she didn't have her trusty bolt cutters. Once in a while Josh had some good ideas.

Pulling them from her belt, she squeezed with all her might, the small lock falling with a crack to the concrete floor. Beaming with success she threw the cage door open, releasing the pack of Pokémon of all shapes and sizes into the room. They flooded out, squealing and pushing to get out of the tortuous conditions. Moving to the next cage, she snapped the lock, repeating the process.

Back in the hallway, Colby and Josh were having some difficulties. It was going okay at first, until one guy showed up from guarding the stairs, wondering what all the yelling was about. It was just their luck that this grunt happened to be Monty, the extremely muscled and bigger than both Colby and Josh, of Ronan's group when they first met. But it didn't seem that the daft grunt had recognized them, just immediately came up behind Josh and put him in a killer head lock. It's a wonder the guy wasn't a wrestler himself.

The grunt he was battling before Monty grabbed him, smirked at Josh's surprised condition. Josh's hands grabbed at Monty's arm, trying to remove the boisterous thing from choking him anymore. The grunt took this opportunity to knee Josh in the stomach, causing him to practically fall over if Monty didn't have a hold of him. With anger getting the best of him, Josh was hissing and spitting at them both, trying to get free.

Colby just now noticed his condition, fear struck. With one last punch to a grunt, she bounded over to the grunt beating Josh and kicked him as hard as she could in the back of the head. He screeched and dropped like a rock, face planting at Josh's feet. Monty looked at her with a devilish grin, tightening his grip on poor Josh who was about to turn blue.

"Let him go, now," Colby snapped, delivering a harsh blow with her fist to Monty's chest.

It didn't seem to affect the huge grunt and caused him to squeeze tighter.

"I warned you," Colby said, pretending to turn away, but then doing one of her signature moves.

Monty didn't seem to expect the girl to be able to jump so high as to reach his face…but she did. In one quick movement Colby connected the ball of her food with Monty's nose, causing blood to spurt everywhere. In shock he dropped Josh, who fell to his knees, gasping for air and holding his neck. The big man slumped against the wall, looking down at his hand that was covered in blood from where he touched his nose.

Josh finally caught his breath, standing up with anger like no other in his eyes. Turning around he faced Monty, the only grunt left, but the biggest challenge of them all.

"You bitch," Monty roared, looking like an angry Tauros.

Normally this would be terrifying, but anger got the better of the two. Monty charged toward them, barreling at practically 90 miles per hour. They dodged his tackle, which was undoubtedly his way to take them both down at the same time. He turned around to be met by two fists to the face, one Josh's and one Colby's. She flexed her knuckles while dodging his blind punches…apparently some of the blood had gotten in his eyes.

Josh delivered a fierce uppercut to his chin, but at the same time getting nicked in the side by one of Monty's blind throws. While Monty was reeling from the uppercut Colby spun around and delivered another brutal roundhouse to his face. Blindly, raging, he ended up tripping over his own feet…and hitting his head with a sickening crack on the concrete floor.

Colby was breathing heavy as she exchanged a breathless glance with Josh, who had a bit of blood running from his mouth. He wiped it with back of his hand, and sighed.

"Thanks for saving my ass. You weren't bad," he mumbled gruffly, avoiding her gaze.

Colby smiled, he was trying, and that was obvious.

"Anytime. Next time we use Subway though."

* * *

><p>Amanda was on the last cage in the second room, letting the lock fall to the ground. She felt a huge feeling of elation as she was about to open the door, realizing she had done it. As she was reaching for the lock, a heavy hand descended on her shoulder.<p>

"Great Stellar Spirits Josh, do you guys have to scare me like that-"

The hand spun her around roughly, causing her glasses to slide down a bit on her face. Now there were two hands gripping each of her shoulders, not at all being gentle. She was staring into the vicious brown eyes of some grunt twice her size, both in built and height.

"Now just what do you think you're doing down her pretty thing?" He growled, sour breath being breathed into her face.

Amanda couldn't move, fear pulsing through her body. Zero was over in the other room keeping the Pokémon under control, Josh and Colby were fighting the grunts in the hall, her other Poke Balls were in her pack which was out of reach, and Ellis was powerless to watch it all. That is if there even are cameras in here. She was completely on her own. "Let me go," she shakily said, trying to wiggle out of his grip.

"Now now, don't be rude. We're just getting started," the grunt said, tightening his grip on Amanda's shoulders just enough to make her whimper.

"This is going to be fun, I'm going to get to know you real well and then we'll see what the boss wants to do with you," he growled.

Amanda's eyes got big as she kicked and started screaming, that is before the grunt covered her mouth roughly.

"Shut up," he barked.

Then just as quickly as he'd grabbed her, Amanda was released, being tossed to the floor in a heap, almost face planting if she wouldn't have caught herself. Turning over as quickly as she could she saw the guy fall to the ground like a rag doll, and was replaced with another man that was now standing a few feet away from her. In the process her glasses went tumbling, landing beside her. The figure was blurry until she put her glasses back on, blinking and gasping when she realized who it was.

Standing there in his normal light brown suit and checking his pocket watch stood the man in the suit. He slipped the watch back in his pocket and stood in front of her, running his hand through his fluffy light brown hair.

"I figure you don't have much time. So go, go now while you have the chance. Don't let them catch you, and don't stop running until you get well away from here," he ordered, something that looked like fear in his eyes.

Amanda had her back against the cage trying to figure out what just happened.

"Thank you…but…what are you doing here? Why did you save me? I thought you were a member of Team Lunar!" She babbled, standing up shakily in the process.

"That's not important. What is important is that they are likely to figure out what is happening at any moment, so you and your friends need to go while you can. Trust me; you don't want to be caught at their mercy. Now go Amanda, get out of here. Return those Pokémon safely," he said, begging her to trust him.

"I don't understand-"

"You don't have to, we'll meet again I promise. Go carefully, get out of here…and be safe," he told her, bidding farewell.

"Okay, t-thanks," Amanda stuttered, greatly shaken.

She undid the last cage and released what was left into the room, leading them with a Poffin from her bag to the door, where she spun around.

"Could I at least have your name?"

Looking behind her the man was still standing, looking up from the ground and back at her.

The man hesitated at first, but then spoke after clearing his throat, "Strider. Strider Goldston."

Amanda turned back to the door before whipping around for a double take, what did he just say? Strider _Goldston_? How did this guy have her last name…? What the hell was going on here?

"I'm so sorry…" He said shakily, running his hand through his hair again.

Amanda could only begin to imagine the shock that was present on her face, because the guy looked pretty stressed. He took a deep breath before he spoke shakily.

"Amanda… I'm your father."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oooo dramatic ;) I'm sorry it's been so long guys, now that it's summer I can get back to writing again, and I blame the lack of updates on my recent addiction to Minecraft, and The Walking Dead. Also The Mediator Series, which I'll be certainly sprouting some fics on soon :P You're going to get another update soon, do not worry!**

**Please review! Because I would love to hear how I'm doing and your story comments :P As Ellis would say, capeesh?  
><strong>


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

"W-what? That's impossible! I'm an orphan," Amanda stuttered, everything seeming to move to fast for her.

How could this be possible? If this man said he was her father, then why was she put into an orphanage? She didn't understand.

"No you're not. Just...I'll explain it to you very soon, but you have to trust me and get out of here now. We'll meet again, stay safe. Now go!" He commanded, fear more emphasized than anger in his harsh tone.

Amanda fumbled with the door and did what he said, immerging into the other room with the Pokémon and Zero at the lead, still changed to look like Amanda. She looked back one last time before she shut the door, getting mixed feelings about what she was just told. There wasn't time to dwell on it now, because Strider was right, they didn't have much time.

"Amanda! We have to go," she heard Colby's voice say.

Josh and Colby ran into the room, grabbing their packs again and catching the Poffins Amanda had thrown, they needed to get these Pokémon out.

"Good, now get to the stairs, fast! I'll have Riley meet you halfway somehow, but we have to hurry. I'm fighting to get camera footage, they're onto us," Ellis ordered in their ears.

He sounded desperate and greatly stressed, only emphasizing that they didn't have much time over and over again.

"Let's move!" Josh yelled, "You heard the lettuce head! Let's make like pants and split."

Amanda calmed her frazzled nerves and told Zero to hold the door open, which he easily did. The forty or so Pokémon eagerly rushed out the door, following Josh and Colby who were in the lead, running down the hall with this pack following. Amanda and Zero took up the rear, running hard to keep up with the stampede ahead of them. They were going to be lucky if this worked.

Ellis watched as they cleared the first landing of the stairs, quickly checking to be sure the next floor they would run into was clear. Thankfully it was, because Ellis didn't really have anymore tricks up his sleeve. He glanced over at Riley's monitor and found that he was still running up and down the main hall, God knows how being able to avoid the tiring pack of grunts that was trying to catch the slippery son of a bitch.

Riley though seemed fine with energy, trying to dance to the song again that Ellis had set on continuous loop. Just to prove he had more energy, Riley stopped to put his hands behind his head and wiggle his crotch. It took all Ellis had to not smash the screen with his face desk. At least he was doing his job.

Colby, Amanda, Zero, Josh, and the pack of Pokémon were rounding the third set of stairs with three to go. They hadn't lost any stragglers yet and surprisingly this plan was working very well. Amanda glanced down the hall before heading up the stairs again and saw a few grunts down there huddled around something. Whatever it was she didn't care, as long as it gave them time to be undetected. As they were on the fourth landing, Ellis decided it was time to warn Riley. He was one floor above them, so it was time to split.

"Riley that's enough; they're coming up the stairs. Join them at the end of the hall and get out of there!" Ellis yelled into the mic.

"Roger Pothead, just making sure to coat this room with sexy before I leave," Riley replied, pelvic thrusting some more.

Ellis rolled his eyes and was surprised as Riley's screen went dark. Patting it a couple times he realized that someone probably disconnected him, they were figuring it out.

"Hurry Riley!" Ellis said.

"Guys my screen for Riley went dark, he should be joining you briefly. I'll get the door open for you and then get the hell out of there. We've made some grunts very angry," Ellis said, speaking to Josh's group.

"Yeah, the red headed prick is already here. And what IN THE HELL is he wearing?" Josh snarled.

Colby just caught sight of Riley and did a double take as she saw him running down the hall, screaming, towards them. Of course he was wearing a small black Speedo at least two sizes too small. The grunts chasing him picked up speed again as Riley made it to the stairs, falling in step beside Amanda who looked green at the sight of him.

"What's up baby cakes? Did ya know I'm sexy and I know it?" Riley cooed, running up the stairs beside Amanda and Zero.

"Great Stellar Spirits, focus on the job we have," Amanda huffed, putting her eyes everywhere but near him.

"I'm sorry, he insisted," Ellis squeaked.

"Damn straight," Riley replied with a grin, bounding up the stairs.

"Just open the door," Josh screeched as they neared the last stretch of hall.

Ellis hit a few buttons on his keyboard, telling the door to open, which it did. Two grunts were in there way, hollering and screeching. They weren't doing this for long, because Josh and Colby put fists in their faces as they barreled out the door.

"Go go go!" Ellis yelled into their ears.

Amanda, Riley, and Zero bolted out the door, trying to keep up with the pack of Pokémon that were sprinting after Josh and Colby. Amanda's feet slammed into the ground as she ran harder than she'd ran in a while, careful not to look back and see if there were people following. Adrenaline was keeping her going, pulsing through her body doing 90 and feeding oxygen to her breathless lungs.

They'd almost made it out, because the tree's were dead ahead. Meanwhile Ellis was speed packing up all his gear, shoving it into the bag and spying the group as they headed through the hole Josh had made in the fence. From the looks of it no one was following them yet, but the base was defiantly in chaos.

Throwing the last of the stuff in his bag, Ellis zipped it up and met Colby and Josh halfway, now in the trees.

"That was a kickass plan," Josh breathed, still running through the trees with Ellis on his left, Colby on his right, the Pokémon in the middle, and Amanda, plus Riley and Zero, bringing up the rear.

"Now we just have to get back to Mayeberry," Ellis grinned as they ran into the night with success in the air.

* * *

><p>"They took <em>what<em>?" The boss's voice seemed to raise two octaves on that word, making Ronan flinch in his chair.

After someone had hacked into his cameras, Ronan has immediately bolted back to the room to try and stop it. While he was in there he'd caught a glimpse of who it was, and boy should he have guessed. The idiot with the flaming red hair was dancing nastily up and down his hallways, and of course the black haired prick and the blonde girl were beating his team mate's ass downstairs. Somehow these assholes had stolen the Pokémon they'd just got yesterday from the Safari Zone in Mayberry. Go figure.

"They took all of our Pokémon sir," Ronan said quietly, stiffening in his chair and hoping for the best.

He was just there earlier today getting praise and now that was probably going to go to hell because of these little…

"You're telling me, that all the Pokémon we just _risked our asses for _yesterday at the Safari Zone were just stolen by some _kids_?" The boss snapped, still not facing Ronan in his office chair.

Oh this wasn't going in Ronan's favor at all. He'd be lucky if he wasn't demoted again. At this rate he was never going to be a boss.

"Yes sir, somehow they did," Ronan answered.

Finally the boss's chair swiveled around and for the first time that day he faced Ronan, coldness in his green eyes almost enough to make Ronan shudder. Very rarely did he speak to people face to face when he talked, for whatever reason. He was wearing his usual apparel which consisted of a suit, always with a pocket watch, his light brown hair slicked back, and his facial hair finely cut. It was pretty intimidating at times, especially now.

"Where were you," the boss asked succinctly.

"Sir?" Ronan asked.

"I asked where the hell you were when they were just waltzing through _the front door _and taking these Pokémon from us. What kind of fools does that make us look like? Me for being the head of this branch of Team Lunar, you for being my second in command! Do you have any idea what we will tell the head branch when they ask for Pokémon and we don't have them? That they were taken by some little kids who just walked in?" The boss yelled.

Ronan was glued to his chair, never hearing the boss lose his cool like that before. He normally didn't get yelled at, and he fully intended on it not happening again. Ronan liked doing the yelling, not being yelled at. "I-I was trying to stop the hacker sir-" Ronan stuttered, wringing the hands in his lap.

"Really? Stopping the hacker from seeing our cameras? I'm disappointed in you Ronan, I would have thought _you _of all people would have the sense to get down there and do something about it while they were just freeing our Pokémon. Cameras don't make a difference, the prize Pokémon are what matters," the boss snapped.

"I understand sir," Ronan replied quietly.

"Do you? Well if you did those Pokémon would still be in their damn cages, ready for shipment to headquarters tomorrow!"

Ronan shot his gaze to the floor, "I'm sorry sir. It won't happen again."

The boss picked up his pocket watch, checking the time and snapping it closed with authority.

"It better not Ronan. If you want to keep your position that is. Now get out of my office and tend to your duties," the boss snapped, turning back around in his chair and leaving Ronan to his boiling anger.

Those kids were going to pay.

* * *

><p>"Uh huh...so that's how it happened? You're sure hon? Sounds pretty crazy," the lady behind the desk asked, one hand writing down furiously and her shoulder holding the phone to her ear.<p>

"Positive ma'am, we found the Pokémon out in the middle of the forest. My friends and I were going out for some training and stumbled upon them, wandering around out here! We'd seen the newscast earlier yesterday about the stolen Pokémon from Mayeberry, well we figured it had to be them," Ellis replied, being a surprisingly good liar.

They were in fact just outside of Mayeberry, with all the Pokémon clustered around them in a semi-circle, fighting over the limited amount of food Amanda had packed. It was originally meant for just her Pokémon, and Citrus wasn't taking kindly to sharing with these unwelcome visitors.

The feisty little guy was already stealing as best he could get away with, especially the one orange that Amanda laid out. This seemed to be the only way to keep the group together, so hopefully they could get back to Mayeberry soon, apart from this small, well needed break. Besides, Ellis needed some time to think up a quality story.

They were all clustered around the MID and Ellis, who had called the Mayeberry Police Station minutes ago, explaining the situation to one of the clerks.

"Well, that's remarkable! Are you able to lead them here or do I need to send a couple officers for assistance?" The desk lady asked, thumping her pen on the desk in the background.

"I think we'll be alright, after all, we've made it this far. Within the hour we should have them back to the Safari Zone, if your officers would like to assist then. Oh, and we would request Officer Parish if it isn't too much trouble," Ellis spoke, a smile on his face.

Colby and Amanda exchanged glances, unable to control their giggles. Boy would that sour old officer be _delighted _to see them.

The lady paused, "Not a problem, I take it your friends?"

Ellis rolled his eyes at the group, "Something like that."

"Well I'll get that to her right away hon, we'll see you soon. Buh-bye," she dismissed, hanging up the phone.

Ellis hung up the MID and shoved it in his pack, sighing as he looked around at all the Pokémon they'd just saved. It was unbelievable that his plan actually succeeded, considering they'd just jumped in blindly. But the goal had been accomplished, and the score was them one, and Team Lunar zero. That in itself was satisfying enough, and it was a near job well done.

"Did she sound hot?" Riley asked, practically ogling already.

Amanda slapped him upside the head, causing him to grin even wider.

"She's jealous! She's jealous," the redhead bellowed.

"I most certainly am _not_. In fact I take pity on the poor girl that ends up with you," Amanda shot back, trying not to blush.

The fact that he changed out of that awful Speedo though was a bit more comforting. Instead his usual black cargo pants and I'm Not Gonna Riachu a Love Song tee was back.

"Enough of that you two, we should be celebrating this victory!" Ellis exclaimed.

"It isn't over just yet Pothead, we still have to deliver these little fuzzy bumpkins back to the Safari Zone," Riley pointed out, casually trying to stretch and wrap an arm around Amanda, who batted at it.

Colby petted Citrus, who had a habit of rubbing against peoples legs when he wanted attention before he zipped off again towards the guy in the black and green trench coat. Josh tried to hide his disapproval as Citrus found his normal spot on his shoulder, rubbing his little paws in Josh's dark hair that was just below his ear in length.

The gym leader tilted his head sideways, looking up at the Pokémon with disapproval. Citrus just didn't seem afraid, because he batted with one paw at Josh's nose before the gym leader sighed and faced forward again.

Emmera was stretched out in Ellis's lap, along with Nicksy who was practically sleeping on top of her in a fight for Ellis. Mara though was being faithful and was sleeping soundly at Colby's feet.

"Well we better get moving, for all we know Team Lunar could be stalking us in the bushes," Colby suggested, calling Mara and Nicksy back into their Poke Balls, despite their obvious protest.

As soon as these Pokémon were taken care of, then they would get quality time with their trainer. But for now she was on a mission.

"That's a decent idea," Amanda replied, picking Citrus off of Josh and sticking him on her shoulder.

Zero remained in his usual place, walking faithfully beside her back in his normal form. Everyone gathered their things and a few minutes later they were back on the road, Mayeberry less than a mile away. The pack of Pokémon seemed intent on getting the Poffins that Josh and Colby were leading with. Ellis, Amanda, and Riley brought up the rear, catching any stragglers or just making sure everyone was as nicely in line as a mass of all different kinds of Pokémon could be.

What really was the issue though was this Tropius. He always seemed to be tripping over things and stepping on other Pokémon. Though it seemed every Pokémon had a strange fascination with badasses, because it was always trying to nip at Josh's coat and hair while walking. After a few minutes Josh finally blew a gasket, spinning around to face the gang in the back.

"Keep this shit under control back there. I don't want this asshole chopping off my hair and spitting on my coat," he snapped, glaring harshly at the Tropius who continued to smile dumbly down at the gym leader. Amanda rolled her eyes at him, "C'mon Josh, it's just because he likes you."

Josh scowled, glaring up at the innocent Tropius, "We've been over this 'liking me' shit. I try my best to be the exact opposite, but you know how that seems to work. After all you people had some reason to drag me along-"

"If I remember correctly _you _were the one who drug us along," Colby interrupted with a grin.

Josh shot her a glare, "Whatever. I had good reason to get away from those damn kids. I didn't want to come along..."

"Then why have you stayed so long?" Ellis asked.

"Yeah, what's stopping you from leaving?" Colby added.

Josh cleared his throat, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his trench coat and refusing to make contact with anyone.

"That isn't the point. It's not like I enjoy company, especially his."

Josh brought his gaze back to Riley, who was still trying to hit on Amanda. That boy could never give it a rest, even when Amanda made it clear several times that she wasn't interested. Riley straightened up, just grinning at Josh.

With a huff of anger Josh turned back around, clamping his mouth firmly shut and walking a little faster when he felt the Tropius nudge him from behind. Ellis made a face behind Josh's back, causing Colby to giggle. He could be such a sour sport sometimes.

The dirt path was changing to brick now, leading into the main street of Mayeberry. The pack of Pokémon still seemed content and luckily the Safari Zone wasn't too far from here...but that did mean they had to cross one of the main streets to get there. Colby sighed, this wasn't going to be easily and they were going to attract a lot of unwanted attention. Josh, Colby, Amanda, and Ellis were still dressed in their spy outfits, except for Riley who had changed out of his Speedo. Thank the Stellar Spirits he did. Even without that display to worry about, they still didn't want the unnecessary attention.

"Are we just going to go strolling through town? Won't this look a bit strange? Five of us walking through with a huge pack of Pokémon?" Colby questioned.

Ellis shrugged, "There isn't really any choice. If we wanted to go the long way around we would have had to turn a long time ago."

"Of course we want to, it will display our badassitude," Riley replied smugly.

Colby bit back a retort and kept her eyes going forward as the five of them immerged onto the main street of Mayeberry, already bringing some eyes. All together they filled up the whole width of the street, which wasn't obvious at all to bystanders. Already there were people, either previously standing outside or walking, that had stopped and were staring at them. Riley had a smirk plastered on his face that never seemed to leave. Some people were talking to each other in hushed tones, obviously talking about the huge mass of Pokémon in the street.

By now they were about halfway up the street, and the swag Riley felt seemed to be practically radiating from them. He tried to strut his best before Amanda ended up smacking him again, causing him to smirk even bigger. It was a wonder that his mouth didn't just crack from all that smirking all the time.

After what seemed like a year of people just staring at them, the group finally rounded the corner and saw the Safari Zone just up ahead. As they got within a few yards Colby and Ellis exchanged a huge grin when they realized who was in the parking lot. Officer Parish could be seen along with Lindy, Saria, and Smithers who had just spotted them.

Lindy spun around, wearing a big sun hat and sunglasses, lowering them and glancing up at them. Smithers just began to laugh as they met them, all the Pokémon behind them in a huge mass. Officer Parish on the other hand, looked royally pissed.

"Are you kids alright? I can't believe you made it this far with the Pokémon! It was such luck that you found them, in the woods of all places," Lindy gushed, pulling each of them into a rough hug.

Officer Parish got up from leaning on her squad car, stalking over to their direction with a frown on her face. Pulling off her shades she looked down at them wordlessly, examining the Pokémon they had in their hold.

"This is wonderful! We absolutely can't thank you kids enough! The Safari Zone would be well...nothing without the Pokémon!" Lindy exclaimed, bending down to pet a content Wooper, who whooped in happiness in getting some attention.

"Not a problem, we really are glad to help," Ellis responded, a foolproof grin plastered on his face.

"What is good to know was that Team Lunar wasn't a part of this or at least to our knowledge so far," Saria added, speaking for the first time. "We're so glad to hear that, because who knows what would have become of these poor little guys," Amanda said.

"Hopefully we can get on with business, because the other worker that was missing showed up. He was asleep in the basement, so much for responsibility. That's probably how they escaped…left the gate open too," Lindy told them with a frown.

"We know whose getting fired," Josh snorted.

"We really better be on our way, because if I'm correct we have a date- I mean battle with Saria," Riley elaborated, earning him another punch in the arm from Amanda.

"Twixxxx," he groaned in protest, rubbing his arm.

"You deserved it," Amanda muttered under her breath.

"It truly is a miracle that you kids managed to bring these all back by yourselves. We can't thank you enough," Lindy reiterated.

"Yes and I believe I do have a battle with you five. You deserve the opportunity after all you've done for Mayeberry," Saria agreed.

Through this all Officer Parish was silent, scrutinizing with her nose wrinkled up in a very unattractive manor. Ellis couldn't help but counting this as a victory for them. After all, this was the biggest success of one of his plans, ever.

"Yes. Pretty unbelievable, almost too unbelievable. Now why don't you kids run along, you've done quite enough," Officer Parish practically snapped, obviously not appreciating the special call in her favor.

"We'd be quite happy to Officer. You have a nice day now," Amanda answered, failing at being sincere in her smile.

Officer Parish snorted and slammed her shades back on her face, opening her car door.

"You don't need me anymore. I have another call to get to. Good day."

With that she slammed the door, starting the ignition and quickly exited the parking lot with not another look at Colby's group.

Ellis couldn't help but laugh, "Well she's certainly in a bad mood." "Wonder why," Colby asked innocently, causing everyone but Josh to grin, instead he just snorted with irritation.

"Ah don't worry about her; it's just been a stressful few days. Now I'll just get these Pokémon rounded up and back home safely. You kids can get on with your gym battle, once again thank you," Lindy exclaimed, taking the outstretched Poffin Amanda handed to her.

Instantly the Pokémon turned their attention to her, following the woman as she began to move forward...except one. That same Tropius was hanging onto Josh's collar, trying to pull the gym leader with him back to the Safari Zone, wailing.

"For God's sake," Josh sputtered, stumbling and almost falling down as the Pokémon yanked him along.

Lindy laughed, stopping so Josh could get free of the Tropius's mouth, aka death trap.

"I believe he likes you," Lindy grinned.

Josh looked flustered and fixed his collar, keeping his eyes on the floor and anywhere but the eyes of the whimpering Pokémon.

"Yeah we've been through this before; Josh has a thing with Pokémon. They can't seem to stay away from him," Riley humored, earning him a sharp glare.

"Well I suppose if you two have a bond then he's just going to have to stay. After all, it's the least I can do. If he likes you then go ahead and take him Josh, he's practically crying," Lindy encouraged, eyes bright.

Josh grumbled under his breath, realizing that he wasn't going to get out of this one no matter how much he refused. Lindy wouldn't let him, and neither would this pushy Tropius. It's not like he wanted another member, but it seemed like all the sorry assholes congregated to him...so what the hell.

"Fine. But if he keeps this up I'm going to bring his sorry ass back here. Got it Willis?" Josh snapped, jerking his gaze up to the smiling Tropius.

He wailed in response and Josh took that as a yes, grunting in approval. Josh reached into his knapsack and grabbed an empty Poke Ball, turning it over once in his hand before fixing his green gaze on the Pokémon in front of him. It would be kind of nice to have another team member to train, but there was no way he was going to admit it. In all honesty he liked forming bonds with Pokémon and training them to be strong, that was always something he enjoyed. But he didn't want it to be a weakness, or appear to be in any way, so he made it difficult.

With one last look at the empty Poke Ball in his hand he threw it, letting it fall to his boot clad feet in with his new team member, Willis the Tropius, inside.

Lindy clapped her hands together as he picked it up, sticking it deep into the pocket of his trench coat next to Subway, Mime, and Slowbro. Speaking of Slowbro, he had some business to attend to before they moved to the next town.

"That's just wonderful! I hope you enjoy him Josh, train him to be strong. But most important of all create a great relationship with him," Lindy spoke, encouragement in her eyes.

Josh muttered a thank you and fixed his gaze on the ground again, getting the attention off of him. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Amanda, Ellis, and Colby exchanged a grin of success; this day was just turning out well.

"Anyway, I'll let you run along. Have a great journey kids! If you get time come back and visit the Safari Zone in little old Mayeberry. We'll be waiting!" Lindy waved, bidding farewell.

* * *

><p>"What in the hell were you kids thinking?" Smithers glowered.<p>

The gang was now inside the grass gym, standing in the foyer facing one angry pair of Smithers and Saria. Saria's pink hair was fluffed out in its usual two pig tails and her eyes were blazing. Smithers's condition was just about the same with his disapproving gaze fixated on the group, who was actually looking shocked. Ellis's stomach dropped to the floor, was their cover blown?

"What do you mean-" Riley started.

Saria pounced on it like his words were a mouse, "Don't try to fool us. You know exactly what we're talking about."

Smithers nodded from beside her, "What were you thinking barging into Team Lunar's base? Do you kids realize the danger you just put yourselves in?"

Oh snap, cover blown. Ellis glanced at Colby; it wasn't that obvious was it?

"Danger? Those assholes barely put up a fight," Josh snorted.

Saria's eyes got big, "You got into a fight?"

Smithers sighed in disgust, beginning to pace in front of the group. More now than ever did they feel like naughty children in front of angry parents. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, almost killing the euphoria that they'd felt from winning in the first place.

"It wasn't that bad Smithers. I know you think they're really dangerous, but most of those grunts are idiots," Colby assured, trying to reassure the pissed off gym leader.

"Idiots?" He fired back, "Idiots don't make well known people simply disappear. I know of people that got involved with Team Lunar and decided to back out. Once you get yourselves either working for them or on their black list...well it's a serious deal."

Saria sighed, putting a hand to rub her temple, "If they even have a clue that it was you kids..."

"I covered my tracks well," Ellis responded, standing tall despite the accusations.

"How did you even know anyway?" Josh asked sourly.

Smithers scoffed, "You don't think it's obvious? First clue would be what you're wearing. We aren't stupid, and neither are you. That piece of fabric came from a Team Lunar uniform. The guy 'sleeping' in the basement? Star employee three years in a row, there was no way he was just slacking off. Put the clues together, just like you five did."

"Hey, I wasn't a part of this-" Riley began.

"The hell you weren't!" Josh yelled. "Just ask Speedo here what _he_ did." Riley frowned, "I looked damn sexy. Twix agrees."

Amanda turned pink, pushing her glasses up, "I do not. You noticed me looking away when you were flaunting yourself."

Riley winked at Amanda beside him and crossed his arms over his chest, shutting up for once.

"Who did what is not the point at all, we're just concerned about your safety at this point," Saria corrected, glancing at Smithers who had stopped pacing now, with his fingers pressed to his temples.

Smithers looked up at them, sadness clouding his eyes, "Do you remember all those pictures on my wall back at the gym? I was posing with my buddy, the one that one of you asked about?"

Colby nodded, and Smithers sighed deeply, glancing at them all. "Well he was unfortunately one of those victims. In the end Team Lunar killed him for something that he knew, I don't know the details. Those are a mystery, lost with his death. You kids are no different, and if they took out a man as strong and with as well trained Pokémon as he had then they won't hesitate to take out five kids."

So that's who that guy was, Colby thought. Remembering that day she did recall something about Smithers not elaborating about the guy in the picture. Team Lunar didn't seem like that much of a threat from their perspective...but was it possible that it could be serious?

"We got the Pokémon, that's all that matters. If they want to get us, well they are going to have a fight on their hands," Amanda contested, looking triumphant.

She wasn't so sure about that statement...she was reluctant to trust after her run in with Strider. Her father had left her to join Team Lunar...or that's what it seemed like. But why would he have let them escape with the Pokémon if he was a member? How did he know she would try to save them? Hopefully he would meet up with her soon like he said, because the curiosity was practically killing her.

"You don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation kids," Saria responded, in a softer voice.

Smithers looked pained, "Look, what you did was incredible, superb even. But when we said that the higher personnel could handle it, we meant it. It wasn't that we thought you couldn't do it, because you kids are great. It was a matter for your safety."

Josh rolled his eyes, "Bull shit, if adults were concerned about their children's safety then why the hell do you see little ten year olds going on Pokémon journeys around the region. All by themselves. That's real safe. Yeah, safe my ass."

"Josh, shut up," Colby growled.

"We truly understand where you're coming from, we really do. But sometimes you just have to take drastic measures, especially when Team Lunar steals Pokémon. They do horrible things to those poor Pokémon," Amanda countered, getting disgusted at the thought.

She saw what horrendous scars Nicksy bore, who knows what experiments they were thinking up next? Team Lunar had to be stopped one way or another, bottom line. If it was a group of teenage trainers, then so be it.

Saria shook her head, "Just don't do something like this without help next time. If you know so much then speak up. We're willing to listen believe it or not."

"Officer Parish sure wasn't," Colby sighed.

Smithers seemed to have cooled off by now and rubbed his stubble.

"Saria's right, at least get some help next time. Let's just hope to the Stellar Spirits they don't know who you are."

Colby and Josh exchanged a look, clearly thinking of the same person. Oh they knew who they were, at least Ronan did. He was pretty stupid, but not stupid enough to not blame this on them. After all, who else wanted to ruin his life?

"Can we get onto the gym battles now? I'm ready to get my blood pumping," Riley prompted, jogging in place and puffing out breaths of air in an exaggerated way.

Saria half-smiled, "Of course, it's about time isn't it? If you're ready for your grass gym battles say 'I'."

Everyone said I in unison, except for Josh who didn't say anything in usual. He prided himself on being difficult, and that was how it was going to be. Conformity? Oh hell no.

Smithers smiled at Saria, all his anger seeming to evaporate for the moment.

"Well I suppose we have our answer."

Saria returned the smile, "Yeah, I suppose we do. Everyone to the main gym, so follow me. Normally when a trainer comes in we have this maze type thing that they go through, but you kids have been through enough today so I will spare you the trouble."

Amanda sighed, "That's very kind of you, and such a relief I might add."

Glancing around the room Colby actually paid attention to the hallway they were going down, painted bright green and decorated with some actually pretty neatly drawn flowers. They had taken a left from the waiting room that had been a simple square room with tile floor and some type of blue wall paper. Along with of course, decorations that made it seem like a confliction between water and grass for some reason.

"The decoration is all by me by the way," Saria added, "the flowers I painted. Art is one of my favorite past times."

Colby's ears perked up, so that's why it looked so unique!

"It's beautiful!" Amanda gushed.

"You did an excellent job; my sister would be all over this wall paper. She loves this kind of stuff," Ellis complimented with a laugh.

Rosie did seem like that kind of personality, loving unique stuff. That was just what Colby guessed after having Ellis's sister drag her up to her room and showing her almost everything.

"Why thank you! I try," Saria beamed, unlocking a door at the end of the hall and holding it open for everyone.

"Down the stairs and to the left," she added.

Smithers was the last one through and she closed the door behind him, walking with him behind the group as they immerged into the main area where the maze was visible. A huge wall of leaves was just a couple hundred yards ahead, most likely the edge of the maze. Where they were standing appeared to be an artificial grass field of some sorts with the usual lines marked for a gym leader's Pokémon battlefield.

As Colby peeked around Ellis she saw where the maze immerged into this area, just a bit to the left. That maze looked like it would be tough to navigate, so thank the Stellar Spirits they were just going to be battling. Saria was at one end of the field, hand on her hip and tossing a Poke Ball in the air. Smither's was off to her left side, leaning against the wall and looking eager to watch this huge mass of battles. Getting all five of them through took some time.

Colby couldn't help but notice the peeks at Saria he was taking, trying to not make it seem obvious. She just smiled to herself and didn't blow his cover.

"Who's first?" Saria called, bringing their attention back to the field instead of marveling at the maze.

Riley stepped up with a grin on his face, throwing his pack to the ground and retrieving a Poke Ball from his black cargo pants. Turning it over in his hand, Riley locked eyes with the gym leader.

"That'd be yours truly. Let's start with the best, go Skitty!"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Holy crap! I got really carried away, because the next thing I knew it this chapter was over 6000 words long XD I told you you'd be getting an update soon! Glancing at the stats, I am getting a bunch of hits but last chapter I only got two reviews :( I think you guys can do better than that! **

**Thanks to all that do review, and if you don't, then I'll have Josh sic Subway on you ;) Until next chapter!  
><strong>


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

In was a rather confusing turn of events for the gang as they saw what exploded out of that Poke Ball..and it most certainly was not a Skitty like the name suggested. It was originally believable when he said Skitty, because it the group could imagine the red head with a Skitty. Naturally it was just something he would catch and call his own for whatever reason.

Instead of being a Skitty, the Pokémon was a Gible, chirping its greeting as it took its place in front of Riley on the field. Riley looked pleased as he caught the Poke Ball smoothly when it returned to his hand, watching his challenger. Saria pulled a Poke Ball from her belt, throwing it high into the air.

"Go Tangela!"

Riley saw the challenge put before him and thought before Saria gave him a nod. It was time to begin.

"Skitty, sandstorm! Let's make this difficult," Riley commanded, throwing a finger point at Saria.

"This isn't the sand gym," Josh muttered under his breath, watching the scene with mild interest.

Colby, Ellis, and Amanda were sitting cross-legged by the field, watching intently at Riley's battle. They'd never before seen him battle a gym leader, since somehow he always had the gym leader beat before they even got there. It truly was a mystery where Riley went all the time, though Ellis had his theories.

"We don't even know what Pokémon he has now," Amanda laughed.

"This is true, we haven't battled him in ages," Ellis added.

As they spoke a sandstorm was being cooked up, great focus clouding Skitty the Gible's eyes. Saria put a hand up to cover her eyes as she shouted something Colby didn't catch to her Tangela. The Tangela seemed to be having a hard time seeing through the fog that covered the arena, making it impossible for Colby to see the other side of other side of the field where Saria stood in a ghostly fog of dust and sand.

Amanda adjusted her Unknown cap on her head, eyes fixated on the Tangela who had finally figured out where Skitty was, executing a vine whip to his face. That seemed to stop the steady flow of sand with Skitty stumbling back the slightest at the unsuspecting blow.

"Tackle," Riley ordered.

Skitty obeyed and tackled the Tangela, as they both went down into a dust shrouded heap.

"Quickly, poison powder Tangela," Saria called.

As they were rolling on the ground Tangela kicked up a poison powder, inevitably getting into Skitty's system. This time though the Pokémon managed to evade the poison and stood up, watching itself and waiting for the next command or attack from the foe.

"Dragon rage, let's get this show on the road," Riley said, only broadening his grin.

The small Pokémon shuddered before producing a huge ray of purple light from its mouth, aimed directly at the small Tangela a few feet away.

"Dodge!" Saria shouted.

Sadly the order wasn't quick enough and Tangela took the full brunt of the blow, falling to the ground in a heap.

"Get up Tangela, you can do it!" Saria encouraged.

After a few seconds it was obvious that Tangela wasn't getting up. Saria recalled her injured Pokémon, putting it safely back on the loop of her belt and choosing another.

"You too Skitty, you've done great," Riley whooped, recalling him.

Skitty chirped in victory before he was engulfed into the Poke Ball once again, taking his spot in Riley's pockets of his cargo pants. The red head chose another and tossed the ball leisurely in the air, releasing this time a small Riolu. Ellis couldn't hide his shock as he realized what Pokémon that was; it would turn into a Lucario! Amanda eagerly logged the Pokémon with her device that was given to each of them.

"How in the world did Riley get a Riolu?" Ellis asked with his eye brows raised.

"Beats me, we don't know how Riley does anything remember?" Colby reminded him as Saria tossed her Poke Ball into the air.

Riley's challenging Pokémon was going to be a Cacnea, which Amanda quickly logged.

"Let's start off with pin missile!" Saria said.

"Counter with quick attack!"

Riolu caught a pin to the side but avoided most of the attack, coming right back in to hit the foe quickly, causing Cacnea to get a bit dizzy.

"Snap out of it Cacnea! Use leech seed."

The Pokémon slowly came out of it as it was still being pummeled by Riley's Riolu. As this was going on Cacnea was able to execute the move, sapping some of Riolu's energy and causing it to sway on its feet.

"Pin missile!"

Riley looked a bit stressed as the Cacnea landed another harsh blow, causing Riolu to fall to the ground.

"Get up! Use force palm and finish it off!" Riley commanded.

The Riolu seemed to summon the rest of its energy and used the attack, smacking the Cacnea right in the face. The Cacnea froze up, falling to the ground in a heap and feinting, just like Saria's previous Pokémon. Riley beamed, fist pumping and whooping before pulling the little Riolu into a hug. The poor Pokémon looked exhausted and let out a squeak as Riley practically crushed it in a hug.

"Wonderful job Riolu, get some rest," Riley said, smirking as he pocketed Riolu's Ball and pulled out another of his.

"Well you've made it this far, but let me assure you that this isn't going to be an easy victory!" Saria called, smiling at the challenger.

Smithers couldn't help but grin, impressed with how Riley had grown in battle skills since they'd battled back in Sanville. He glanced at Saria again, watching as she threw out her last Pokémon with confidence. That same type of confidence he'd seen in her many times before when they'd fought for all these years...It was strange to think that those days were over, but it was comforting because it was like they could start over in their relationship.

Smithers sighed as he ripped his gaze away from her, but not soon enough. She glanced over at him, a smile coming to her lips. Smithers chuckled and ignored a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach, placing his full attention back on the battle.

Riley sent out a Growlithe that was combating Saria's main Pokémon, a Grovile. Colby scrutinized the scene, it was going to be easy as pie for Riley to win...after all, grass types were weak to fire. Saria seemed to realize this too, but she started off the bat with an attack, determined not to let Riley just take the win so easily.

"Grovile, fury cutter!"

"Let's start off strong, flame wheel!" Riley instructed.

Both Pokémon shot themselves immediately into battle, a huge blast of fire headed towards the Grovile. Saria's Pokémon was able to avoid the brunt of it, hitting Growlithe with an intense fury cutter. Growlithe blew fire while trying to avoid the attack, barely landing a blow each time.

"Bite Growlithe!"

Amanda watched the battle, throwing the occasional glance at Riley. She was impressed with his battling skill, something was different. It seemed as if he cared a little bit more about winning and the strategy behind battling. She wasn't sure what triggered his change of heart since the last time they battled, but it was for the better. The Growlithe got several bites on the Grovile before stepping back, shaking its head from side to side.

"Pursuit Grovile!"

"Counter with Ember! Make it into Poke Toast!"

The two were once thrown back into the heat of battle, neck in neck with their efforts...so who was going to prevail was the real question. A few attacks later Grovile was on the brink, looking tired and a bit crispy. Not snapping out of it quick enough, Grovile took a full on flame wheel, looking burnt to death after the fire dissipated. It squeaked and fell to the ground, feinted. Riley had won.

Cheering madly the red head gave Growlithe an Indian head burn of some type before recalling him.

"Congratulations Riley, here is your Savanna Badge," Saria grinned, crossing the field handing Riley a small badge.

He was beaming like an idiot and thanked the gym leader before dancing back over to everyone.

"I did it, aw yeah!" Riley whooped.

"Congratulations," Josh replied dryly.

"I've got a few questions for you after we're done battling," Ellis laughed, getting up to go be next against the gym leader.

Riley gave Amanda a bear hug, which she pushed off, and grinned at Ellis. "Anything for you Pothead."

* * *

><p>"Okay first off, how in the world did you get that? Eggs are extremely rare," Ellis asked between glances down at the Riolu that Riley was kneeled down to pet.<p>

Everyone had successfully gotten their gym badges, including Josh who was looking extra grumpy for whatever reason. There was a distinct bruise forming on his neck, just visible between the part in his pulled up trench coat. Poor Josh, Monty had bruised him pretty well. Amanda was standing next to Ellis, her arms folded on her chest and peeking out at Riley from underneath her Unknown hat.

"That is a good question," she added, giving Riley a look.

Riley finally held his hands up in mock surrender, "Alright alright. Anything for you Twix. It really is a long story as a matter of fact-"

"I'm going to have to get a snow shovel to cut through all this bullshit that's coming out of his mouth," Josh seethed, looking unhappy.

"Whoa, down boy. He just means cut the crap, geesh," Colby translated, ignoring the dirty look Josh was shooting from beside her.

"Alright people, calm yo titties if you know what I'm saying," Riley screeched, looking smug.

Amanda and Colby exchanged a wide eyed look, he was crazy. "Anyway, if you'd let me get to explaining," Riley continued.

"Please do share," Ellis responded dryly, watching as Riley picked up the Riolu and gave it another hug before putting it back in the Poke Ball.

Like an old man remembering his golden years, Riley rubbed his chin and glanced up at the sky, satisfied that the whole group had his attention.

"I remember that day just like it was yesterday. I was a young boy of only fifteen when I was wondering through Iron Island-"

"Whoa whoa, wandering through Iron Island? That's in Sinnoh, many regions away," Colby interrupted.

"Have you ever heard of family vacations Tootsie? That's what we were doing, vacationing to Sinnoh for a couple weeks before they cut me loose to wander Aurora for a while. My life then became more interesting two years later when I met up with you fine people. Beside the point," Riley responded, clearing his throat.

"Anyways there I was, getting lost and observing the Pokémon. Whence I looked up and saw a man, pretty much as equally as good looking and sexy as myself. 'Here, take this' he said. Before I knew it he had shoved this egg into my arms. I peered up at him like a shocked five year old and he had a frown plastered upon his face, his red hair a few shades darker than my own halo. 'What the fudge are you staring at?' he asked, except of course he didn't say fudge. 'Go along now' he replied, shoving me along the path and looking irritated all the way. What was ironic was that somewhere in there he mentioned his name, and it was Riley too! I couldn't believe it, there were two of us! Could it have been my long lost cousin?" Riley babbled, enough to fill up two more paragraphs if Josh hadn't interrupted.

"At least he wasn't as much of a cocky bastard as you," Josh growled. "Well I would say in terms of looks we were about even, but you know me, winning as always in the looks department. With my devilish good looks I could make any female melt, just look at Twix over here," Riley explained with a sly grin.

Amanda didn't seem fazed by this and just continued to look at him with a frown on her face, green gaze on green gaze. Riley finally seemed to sweat drop and pulled at the collar of his shirt with a fake smile on his face that looked closer to a frown.

"Well... hehe," he nervously laughed, "they can't resist."

"Last time I checked we were talking about the Riolu. So it was simple as that? This other Riley gave it to you?" Colby asked, fixing her blue gaze on him.

"Yep baby cakes, just like that I had him and ever since then we've been bros," Riley answered.

"Well, I suppose that's lucky enough," Ellis shrugged, probably expecting him to steal it off someone rather than have it thrown in his face.

Saria had finally ushered the group down the nicely painted hallway in which they came, shutting the door behind her.

"You kids did well, very nice battling techniques over all! I can tell that you all have a very distinct bond with your Pokémon which is absolutely wonderful!" Saria exclaimed, walking with Smithers at the front of the group.

"Thanks Saria, you're not too shabby yourself," Colby answered with a grin, adjusting the pack on her back.

They made it into the main lobby area and exited out to where they were once again standing in front of the stone Mayeberry gym, mostly silent. Smithers cleared his throat, being the first to break the silence.

"I suppose we better get back to Sanville..."

Amanda looked up at him, puzzled, "How are we going to do that? I thought you took the birds back to Lena..."

Smithers looked sheepish, "To be honest I didn't have time Amanda. With this whole Team Lunar business I sort of got carried away. Saria though has so kindly kept them in the back. Lena isn't going to be too happy, but we have to get them back sooner or later. Besides that, I have a gym to uphold."

"Oh, well at least we get to have one last little ride," Amanda replied, perking up and throwing a devilish smile Riley's way.

His eyes got wide and he scooted over to Colby until he was almost hiding behind her.

"I'm riding with you this time," he squeaked.

Colby laughed as Amanda and Ellis fist bumped, grinning like idiots. Riley just so happened to be terrified of heights.

Smithers chuckled, "I remember when I used to be afraid of heights too Riley. It'll all come with time though, you'll get used to it."

Riley didn't seem convinced and said nothing, hiding behind Colby and Josh. What were they waiting for? It was time to get back to where they'd come from!

"Let's get this show on the road," Ellis responded, looking ready for another flying lesson.

A couple minutes later Smithers and Saria returned with the Skarmory's that looked extremely restless. They were almost as anxious for flight as the group was. Smithers passed out the gear, throwing jackets and goggles to everyone who put them on. Josh reluctantly slid the goggles over his face, blinking rapidly and cursing as they snapped back a little too hard. Amanda, Colby, and Ellis were fully ready in a couple of minutes, waiting for Riley and Josh to finish up which they did in a matter of minutes.

Smithers pulled on his jacket and looked at Saria who had some unreadable expression on her face.

"You know I was thinking, what about this. Could we just fly back to the bridge closest to the next place...er, Tenderstone? That way we could get there in a couple days max," Ellis suggested.

Smithers didn't seem to really care, "I suppose that would work. I could probably handle the birds from there and it'd get you kids on your way." "Then a plan it is," Amanda affirmed, climbing onto the bird she had from last time.

Like a scared little puppy Riley puffed out his chest and tried to hide his fear as he climbed on behind Amanda, not saying a word. That was new...maybe Riley was better when he was scared! Colby and Ellis followed suit with Colby claiming the front spot as driver and Ellis on the back, strapping them both in. Josh hopped onto his Skarmory and steadied it, digging his boots into its side and pulling on the reigns.

"Well, I suppose this is goodbye," Saria commented, looking up at Smithers who was on his Skarmory and looking down at her small form. "For now," he replied with a wry grin.

Saria looked down at the ground before looking back at her, a laugh escaping her lips.

"You know now that I think about it...our whole fighting thing for all these years really has been stupid."

Smithers watched her intently as she nervously chewed her lip. Why was she looking so nervous?

"I was actually thinking the same thing," Smithers mused.

Saria paused before eyeing him curiously, "Can...Can we start over? I mean I understand if you don't want to after all I've done and said. Not to mention that ridiculous scene on the bridge-"

"What are you talking about?" Smithers interrupted with a grin that lit up his whole face.

Saria looked confused at first but then got it, returning his grin and extending her hand.

He attentively took it, "Forgiven?"

Saria grinned, "Forgiven."

He then reluctantly dropped it, strangely finding himself... It was such a foreign thing that he couldn't even mentally finish the sentence, let alone make sense of it.

"I'll see you soon Smithers...after all we have to put the finishing touches on that whole land situation," Saria replied sarcastically with a grin. "Until then," Smithers replied with a secret grin of his own.

"Goodbye Saria! Good luck with the Safari Zone!" Amanda called, it coming out as more of a squeak as Riley was once again crushing her middle with his grip once they began to move again.

Saria waved as their final goodbyes were said, leaving her standing there and looking after the group...and Smithers with an achy feeling in her heart. With a sigh she watched them disappear into the clouds and couldn't keep the smile off of her face as she headed back inside her beloved grass gym.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey guys :D Hope you enjoyed that chapter, battle scene okay? What's the deal with Smithers and Saria? ;) **

**You know what I just realized? We've reached an important milestone with this chapter! Guess what that is? Yup, you said it, Pokemon Eternal Darkness is now just over 100,000 words! I honestly can't believe it happened, and have been working towards this day for a little over a year now. I've never gotten this far in any story so I'm pretty proud :) It's all because of you faithful readers and reviewers, because without you I would have almost no inspiration or perseverence to finish this! **

**A special thanks to all who have stayed with me this long, because I know sometimes I'm not the best with updating regularly XD Thank you once again to all you readers, you guys are great!**

**One more thing, review? :)**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

Just like the typical sky diver that you saw in the movies, Riley's cheeks were puffed out and exposed his teeth as they flew through the sky at a high velocity.

Smithers was pushing everyone a little bit faster this time because he was already a day or two late for when they told Lena. But hey, if there was a crisis like at the Safari Zone he was a firm believer that Lena would have helped those Pokémon too. Needless to say they were heading at a pretty good clip towards the other bridge on the side of the claw to connect them back to the mainland again. First of all it would be faster, since they wouldn't have to walk clear back from Sanville over to that bridge again. Smithers was perfectly with it in the end, so all was peachy.

Colby had managed to convince Ellis to let her fly this time and she was enjoying every bit of it. Ellis chuckled as her hair slapped him in the face for about the twenty-ninth time in the past hour, that wasn't exactly a pro for him but he was dealing with it. The goggles on each of their faces made it easy to see with the clouds seeming to float next to them, closer than they'd ever been to touching the sky really.

Josh snapped Colby out of her days by flying too close for comfort next to her and Ellis, yelling something over the wind that seemed a bit worse than on their way to Mayberry.

"What the hell is that?" He shouted, looking irritated at having to yell at least five times.

Ellis peeked around Colby's shoulder as she looked to where they were flying. It was one of the strangest things she'd ever seen...sort of like a wall of dust or something that reached what ground she could see through the clouds. It looked just a few miles off of where they were and was getting closer as they kept on course.

"I have no idea," she shouted back. Smithers on the other hand, looked worried.

"Sandstorm!" He responded breathlessly.

Colby's stomach sunk at the news as she watched the looming mass before them with horror. What were they going to do? The better question was what _could _they do? It was a really bad time to be in the sky, even with the goggles.

"There's no way of getting around it, we're going to have to go through," Smithers yelled, his coat flapping behind him in the wind.

"Stay close, and what ever you do keep your wits about you."

Amanda looked terrified and Riley was his normal pile of uselessness, clutching the girl in front of him like a horrified puppy. He thought he was afraid of flying before. As the sand came barreling toward them in a massive wall the fear really sunk into Colby as she glanced at Josh and Amanda that were flying beside her. Amanda shot her a horrified look as she clutched the bird around the neck and tried to lie low for the most part.

They were facing this huge wall of sand now like two opposing forces in battle and Smithers took up the lead, disappearing into the sand that was raining down upon them. Colby pulled her jacket up over to cover her mouth a nose, doing whatever possible to block the sand from suffocating her. Amanda and Josh gave her a wave before her friends disappeared into this dark mass consuming them like little pebbles.

Sand was everywhere coming in never ending, pummeling waves as the birds fought to keep heading forwards, despite the harsh conditions. The only thing that could be seen was really a brownish darkness along with the sting of the fine sand grains on her skin.

Josh seemed to be faring about the same as Colby and Ellis, except a lot more confident and a lot less scared. He didn't have time for petty emotions, getting through this unharmed was the main thing. But…he couldn't say he wasn't just the slightest, smallest, microscopic bit worried about his…friends…because that would be a lie. Shaking his head he squinted in the goggles and tasted the unpleasant grit of sand in his teeth.

After what seemed like hours of endless fighting through the sand Amanda and Riley hit an air pocket, they'd made it through. Blinking the dizziness that seemed she seemed to be swimming in.

"Is it over?" Riley asked softly from behind her, lifting his head.

Amanda pinched the bird's side and brought it to a stop, glancing back at the mammoth cloud that somewhere housed her friends.

"I think so," Amanda replied, desperately scanning for any sight of movement.

The silence gripped them both as all teasing between them stopped for the first time since they met. Not even Riley was up to breaking the silence as thick as the sand once shrouding them.

"Amanda!" A voice broke through and to her left Smithers coughed as he pulled his bird up to a stop.

"Colby? Ellis? Josh?" Amanda asked, looking around wildly and expecting them to be in tow.

Smithers shook his head plainly, grains of sand falling to the earth below. Amanda tried to control the tightening feeling she felt in her throat as they kept their eyes peeled for everyone else, but was failing miserably.

"What the shit, sand everywhere! It's going to take months to get this out of my damn cloak," an all too familiar voice cursed as he flew down from somewhere above them.

Josh appeared before them, a frown ever present on his face and hands madly raking the sand out of his jet-black hair. Amanda couldn't help herself from smirking at this though, now they were only waiting on Ellis and Colby. A screech pierced the silence, over Josh's cursing of course, as out of the clouds to their right flew what appeared to be their missing people and bird. Amanda glimpsed something strange though as they were headed right for the group…it looked like there was something on Colby's face.

"Whoa! Whoa," Ellis hollered, trying desperately to grab the reigns that were flapping loosely in the wind.

Colby was still screeching and flailing as Amanda watched her desperately attempt to remove the thing off of her face…it looked sort of like a kite had smacked her. But this was no kite; it appeared to be a struggling Pokémon. Ellis managed to get the reigns in time before Amanda had to dart out of the way, thankfully, and pulled them to a halt with the others. Colby peeled the Pokémon off of her face and looked into the cross-eyed eyes of a very confused Gligar.

"What the hell happened to you two?" Josh asked bluntly, staring at the Pokémon with little interest.

"We were just flying when this thing smacked her dead in the face…the poor guy must've been caught in the sandstorm too," Ellis explained sheepishly, fighting to keep a grin off of his face.

Even Smithers was finding it difficult to keep a straight face as he looked at them all with a bemused expression.

"It seems as if Colby has a new friend then," he announced. Colby just stared at the Gligar as it blinked back at her. It seemed as if the little guy had gotten lost, because why would he be traveling through a sandstorm anyway. It couldn't hurt, could it? Besides, another addition to the team was always welcome. "I'd say so…we'll call him Carl."

* * *

><p>"I can't thank you kids enough for all your help…we've been on a journey of our own already. What you did for Mayeberry was extraordinary but try to lay off the Team Lunar business. We're just looking out for you," Smithers remarked, taking each of their sand filled goggles and stuffing them into his bag.<p>

"No problem. But really, if there is something strange in the neighborhood, you can call us," Ellis grinned.

Smithers had the birds attached onto the lead one he was riding and looked down at their group.

"It's been a pleasure traveling with you five, good luck and stay safe. You're quite welcome to visit any time. Farewell for now."

"Bye Smithers!" Amanda called.

"Thank you!" Colby hollered.

"Good luck with the birds!" Ellis chimed in.

"Ugh, yeah, bye," Josh concluded messily.

They all watched him disappear into the clouds, except Josh who was still shaking the sand out.

"I think we'd be able to make it to Tenderstone within in the next day or so if we move quickly," Ellis explained, checking his MID.

"That looks doable, I can't wait for some time to just chill out. Our journey so far has turned out to be oddly busy," Colby added.

"Tenderstone would be your name if you were an Evolution Stone," Riley cooed to Amanda who looked thoroughly disappointed to start this up again.

Everyone began to move forward across the long bridge, occasionally passing an onlooker here and there. Colby and Ellis were in conversation about their route to Tenderstone, Josh was listening to his music and looking at the ground, and Riley was making up for his lack of disgusting flirty ways while they were stuck flying.

"Can I borrow a quarter?" Riley asked, nudging Amanda as she kept her gaze firmly forward.

They were about halfway across the bridge and Amanda's patience was wearing surprisingly thin for whatever reason. At the moment she really just wanted it to be time for bed so she could curl up with Zero and lay in thought. The yearning for peace was replaced by pestering Riley and she was reaching her breaking point. Sure, the occasional pick up line here and there she could handle…but not now.

"Can I borrow a quarter?" He pressed.

Amanda glanced momentarily over at Colby for some help but realized she was still conversing with Ellis, she sighed.

"What do you want a quarter for?" Amanda asked through gritted teeth, as she didn't even bother to remove his arm from around her shoulder.

"Because I want to call my mom to tell her I've just met the woman of my dreams," Riley answered with a grin.

Amanda focused on her breathing as she tried to distract herself by looking at the bridge, the people, the water beneath them, anything. Riley it seemed though had other plans and couldn't take a hint. Amanda was gripping the rail as she continued walking, Riley directly to her right making another stupid statement.

"Is there a rainbow today? Because I've found the treasure I've been searching for!"

Amanda stopped, looking him straight in the eye between clenched teeth.

"Riley…stop, now."

He frowned, stopping as she started walking again.

"Why don't you love me? Or even like me? C'mon baby, I'm hard to resist-"

Amanda stopped where she'd just been walking, turning around to face him with anger in her eyes. He could tell he'd hit a nerve and smiled, which only made Amanda more furious. Clenching her fists in balls at her sides she stared him down.

"Do you really want to know why I don't like you? That right there, your damn arrogance. You expect every girl to just fall at your feet because you know some stupid pick up lines, but I'm here to prove that's not the case," she snapped.

Riley looked a bit taken aback for a moment but quickly recomposed himself.

"Aw Twix baby, that one hurts. But really, I must be lost. I thought paradise was further south."

Amanda was silent for a second before she lost it, she just snapped. Every snappy comment she'd wanted to say, everything she'd held in was finally erupting to the surface and there was nothing anyone could to stop it. "Damn it you just don't get it!" She thundered.

That seemed to get the attention of Colby and Ellis, the couple on lookers that were on their side of the bridge, and even Josh who pulled out his headphone quizzically. Some guy that was on a MID in the middle of a phone call stopped, holding it from his ear and staring at the scene. Colby and Ellis stopped in their tracks as all eyes turned toward Amanda and Riley's…fight.

"I've put up with it for this long, all your little lines, that…that _insufferable_ smirk that you always have on your face. All your flirting with every girl on the planet, all of it!"

She took a couple steps toward him, causing Riley to back up towards the rail with something like fear in his eyes. All traces of a little smirk were gone from his pale face.

"You know for a bit I thought I was special, that maybe all that flirting actually _meant_ something. I was dumb, stupid to even think that for a second after the way you treat all of the girls you meet. It means absolutely _nothing_," she spat, still stomping closer.

Colby and Ellis were frozen in place, watching the scene with horror. Whatever was going to happen wasn't going to be good… They'd never seen Amanda loose her temper before, but the feeling wasn't good at all.

"I'm just getting started. Your arrogance just burns me, your complaining all the time about every damn thing! You take so much for granted, including the uncle of yours. Do you know what I would give to have _family_? A place to belong where I actually felt like I meant something to someone?"

By now Riley was firmly backed up against the railing, paling even more as Amanda kept coming, water in her eyes and fists clenched.

"You're insufferable, ungrateful, and rude. You want me to like you? I'd suggest working on those things. Oh and one more thing."

A couple of tears slipped down her face as she just stood there for a second. Riley looked utterly confused and was about to say something when Amanda just flat out decked him. Her fierce uppercut sent him flying up and over the rail…down to the water below.

Some of the people on the bridge screamed and Riley dropped the twenty feet or so to the water. Colby and Ellis exchanged a horrified glance while Josh looked legitimately impressed.

"Damn, that was a sick uppercut," he exclaimed.

The phone guy from earlier was now screaming into the MID, rushing over to the side where they were and looking down over the water.

"Honey yes you heard me right! This girl punched this red headed kid straight off the bridge. Straight off!" He yelled.

Amanda didn't even bother to meet her friend's eyes before turning and running, tears streaking her face.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hope you enjoyed. Review if you want**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty-One**

Colby, Ellis, and even Josh were left standing on the bridge with their mouths hanging open, watching Amanda keep running. What'd become of Riley was still unknown but then again no one bothered to even check. They were too stunned by the actual act. The guy with the MID was still screaming something about 911 to his wife as Colby and Ellis exchanged a glance. "Should we go after her…or…"

"Good question," Colby answered dryly.

She really didn't want to be punched…but then again she didn't want to leave her friend.

Josh looked impressed, "About time. Smart girl."

He proceeded keep walking as normal so Colby and Ellis just did the same. It seemed that Amanda didn't show any signs of slowing down and no one particularly wanted to catch up to her.

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Colby and Ellis could hear slogging from behind them. She didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. Riley didn't say a word as he caught up to them, soaking wet like a Magikarp that had been pulled straight out of the water. He was leaving a trail of wet as he slogged along to the left of Josh, looking straight ahead and not even seeming to be bothered by the bruise that was already forming on his chin. Amanda had cracked him pretty good, that's for sure.

They were nearing the end of the bridge as Colby looked up, seeing that Amanda was stomping past a police officer, thankfully not Parish, who was headed their way with a walkie talkie in hand.

"I'm heading to the scene now and I'm not seeing any red-head off the side of the bridge-"

The officer slowly lowered it from his mouth and attached it back to his belt loop as he spotted them.

"Hey kid why are you soaking?" he asked, turning his brown gaze onto Riley.

Before Riley could even open his mouth the officer seemed to catch sight of Josh, instantly frowning. Josh looked up with a sour look on his face, taking on earphone out of his head dramatically.

"Can I _help_ you?" He growled.

The officer scrutinized him with a hard gaze, before finally speaking.

"How old are you? You look a bit old to be traveling with these kids."

Josh's nostril's flared as he looked up at the officer.

"Why the hell does everyone assume I'm a pedophile? Stellar Spirits, I'm seventeen for God's sake. What about fire crotch over there? He's seventeen, so he must be a pedophile too," Josh spewed, jabbing his finger at Riley.

The officer didn't even glance in Riley's direction and instead frowned deeper.

"Move along then," the officer began to walk again, scrutinizing Josh once more and muttered something, as he apparently forgot about Riley, and walked off.

Josh shoved his headphones back in and stomped forward.

"Let's get the hell out of here before that asshole changes his mind and tries to arrest me for pedophilia," Josh snapped.

Ellis smirked as they caught up to Riley and Josh in a couple of steps. Amanda was now at the end of the bridge, a couple yards ahead, and seemed to be slowing down as they finally caught up. She was walking on the other side of Colby with Riley on the other side of Josh, as far away as they could be from each other. The only sound was their feet crunching on the dirt of the path and Josh's death metal music that just had to be making him deaf.

As they walked in silence Colby couldn't help but wonder how this incident was going to change their group. Was Amanda going to be angry with Riley forever? Sure, the occasional moment of silence between those two's bickering was welcoming…but she'd gotten so used to it that it almost seemed abnormal when they _weren't_ going back and forth. She didn't want to have to choose sides between her two friends because that never seems to work out well.

"Colby! Watch out," Ellis exclaimed.

Colby's gaze immediately rose as she plowed face first into a guy that was trying to take a picture of the scenery to their left. She hadn't been paying attention and knocked the person off balance. Thankfully they didn't fall over, just looked greatly surprised.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry I didn't mean-"

She caught a glimpse of the guy's face and couldn't hide her surprise. The tousled blonde hair, light blue eyes, and the scar under his left eye brought all the memories back like getting hit over the head with a hammer. He seemed to have noticed her too because his eyes widened in surprise. "Oliver?" Colby asked, looking up incredulously.

"Colby?" He asked, looking her over as if to make sure.

"What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, smiling.

Ellis and Riley looked pretty confused, Amanda wasn't entirely sure what was going on, and Josh was scowling like no other at the two.

"Who's this asshat?" He growled, shooting a sharp look at Oliver.

"Um…" Oliver said looking uncomfortable under Josh's glare.

"Oh don't mind him, he's always a sour puss," Colby shrugged, "anyways, the cranky one is Josh, the green headed one is Ellis, Riley's the flirty red head, and this is Amanda. They're who I've been traveling with since Portsburg." Ellis gave Oliver a friendly nod, "Well actually the ship-"

"Oh Ellis we don't want technical details," Colby laughed.

"Good to meet you all. I suppose I should introduce myself. I'm a one of Colby's old friend's from Hecate. We were schoolmates together only what seems like yesterday," he laughed.

Ellis looked surprised, "We didn't know she had friends!"

Colby responded by lightly punching him in the arm, earning a genuine Ellis smile.

"Oh yes, believe it or not I'm sociable," Colby responded.

"Where are you headed?" Amanda asked, speaking for the first time.

"Well I was grabbing some shots of the wild Pokémon around here and then was going to head back to Tenderstone. I was planning on just hanging out there for a while and then moving on," Oliver explained, shoving his hands into the pockets of his blue jeans and letting the camera hang by its black strap around his neck.

"We're headed to Tenderstone as well! Going to battle ourselves a gym leader," Riley added, also speaking for the first time.

"If you don't have anything to do you could join us!" Ellis suggested.

"Of course, that'd be great! We have some serious catching up to do," Colby added.

Oliver looked a bit hesitant at first but nodded, "Alright, that sounds enjoyable. I didn't want to ask and intrude."

"Intrude smentrude, we're always happy to welcome others to our little travel group," Ellis assured him, grinning and clapping him on the back.

Josh snorted and began to walk ahead, shoving his hands into his pockets and keeping his head down. Oliver was watching this with a worried expression; this guy didn't seem to like him for whatever reason. He'd just have to make extra effort to be friendly.

"Well, some of us do anyway," Ellis laughed as the group began to walk again, heading towards Tenderstone.

For a while there was sort of a silence as Amanda went on ahead, hair blowing lightly in the wind and her hands stuffed deep in her pockets, balled in fists. Riley was sort of in the same position. For once he wasn't saying anything and sort of fell behind the group, looking at the ground and occasionally glancing up. Colby tried to ignore the two as Ellis chatted busily with Oliver, getting to know him in his charming Ellis way.  
>"What's it like in Hecate? Colby talks about huge factories, Pokémon being enslaved, no hamburgers," Ellis fibbed.<p>

"Oh, well, I don't know about that," Oliver answered with a chuckle. "Surprisingly it's just about like here though there isn't as much space. Space really is a beautiful thing, something so simple yet beautiful. I lived in a sort of apartment with my folks in the city and boy are those things cramped. Not to say I don't miss it back home, because I do, but everything here just seems like it has so much more to offer you know?"

"That's kind of true for me too. I was eager to finish my studies so I could go out on a great adventure like this, just like I've dreamed since I was a tyke. I guess I was just at the right place at the right time when Colby, Amanda, Josh, Riley, and I were selected to go on this journey for Professor Daunte," Ellis agreed, glancing over at Colby.

Oliver looked surprised, "Special mission for a Professor? You five have it good! What kind of special mission?"

"Well what kind of mission do you think, beating ass, logging Pokémon, getting the bitches, that's what we do every day. And what do you do? Take nature photography to send into a calendar shop?" Josh snapped, viciously glaring at Oliver.

Looking taken aback once again Oliver looked away quickly, all of a sudden being very interested in the camera dangling around his neck.

"Josh come on, could you quit being an asshole for a day or so please? He's our guest-" Colby started.

"Guest? More like intruder on our party, our friendship- or partnership or deal, contract…or whatever," Josh muttered, looking surprised that he said a word so nasty as friendship.

Colby rolled her eyes, turning back to Oliver. Josh really needed to get a handle on that anger…maybe they could check him in for counseling at Tenderstone.

"Anyways, as I said don't mind him. We're completing a Log for the Professor. He's given us these cool little gadgets he developed and asked us to take them through our journey in Aurora, logging any Pokémon we see."

"What's really cool about it is that it can sort of just see a Pokémon and gather information from it such as the name of the Pokémon, type, and weaknesses or strengths. Certainly a fine little creation," Ellis agreed, looking down at the curious gadget in his hand.

"Wanna have a look?" Oliver nodded and Ellis handed him the technology. Oliver ran it over in his hands and held it up, examining it curiously.

"That's pretty amazing. I've seen one of the original PokeDexes that Professor Oak developed a few years ago. Amazing. Professors, boy I don't know how they do it," Oliver exclaimed, giving it back to Ellis.

"Land hoessssss," Josh commented.

Colby glanced ahead and noticed they were coming upon a small town. She remembered seeing this one on the map Ellis had pulled out earlier, a town called Airedale halfway in between the bridge and Tenderstone. For a day's walk they weren't doing to bad on time at all.

"It's Airedale, wow we got here pretty fast! It's amazing how an afternoon can pass so quickly," Ellis commented.

The sun was setting fast as the group came into town, glancing around at the few buildings such as the Pokémon Center, a shopping center, some businessy looking buildings, and a park. The town was relatively small but seemed cozy as they noticed a fair amount of people out and about.

"We can stay here for the night and then head out in the morning," Ellis said, watching the people.

"Alright then, let's find us a spot to camp out!" Oliver agreed, seeming enthusiastic to be with a group for the first time in a while.

* * *

><p>The sun was long gone, not like 30 minutes but around five or six hours ago…that was when it sunk below the horizon. Amanda though still couldn't manage to get to sleep. After a fit of tossing and during she finally gave in, suppressing a groan as she crawled out of her sleeping bag and sat up cross-legged on top of it. But that still wasn't comfortable, geez, what did it take to get some quality sleep. All she wanted to do was sleep. Just forget about it all for a moment, just a moment.<p>

She sighed deeply as she glanced over at the sleeping figures of the others a few yards away, peacefully in slumber and without a care in the world. Colby and Oliver went to bed an hour or so later than Josh, Ellis…and Riley, because it seemed they were talking about everything under the moon. Catching up took a while but eventually they both gave into the darkness of sleep. If only she could do the same.

Her eyes couldn't help but glance over in the general direction of his sleeping back, flaming red hair sticking out in all directions. Sighing long and deep for the second time that night she decided to lay back down again, curling up into a tight little ball and letting her eyes wander over the flat landscape of suburban Airedale's beautiful grasslands. Not even beautiful scenery like this couldn't calm her thoughts. Strider…father…she had a father. Well there was issue number one.

That thought in itself was enough to overwhelm an (so called) orphan like herself in a heartbeat. Oh, not to mention the fact that he was a lead boss in the local bat shit crazy organization, Team Lunar. Okay so she had a father, but what about a mother? Was she in Team Lunar too? Did Amanda have any other siblings? But most importantly why leave her in that orphanage…alone. That thought alone caused the breath to catch in her throat, clenching up and bringing a familiar sensation into her throat. _I will not cry, I will not cry, _she told herself repeatedly, managing to hold it back this time.

The second thing was…well…she almost hated to think it, let alone say it, Riley. Maybe she'd taken it a bit too far on the bridge back there. What if she'd seriously hurt him? Even killed him for that matter… Oh God, for a weird reason it made her stomach clench at the thought. Even if he wasn't physically hurt he could ignore her like he'd been doing most of the day. It's not like she was doing much in the way of apologizing or talking to him…but still, she couldn't deny the fact that he was being an asshole. Surprisingly an asshole that she was beginning to grow a fondness for- wait, a fondness? Where the hell did that come from-

"A-Amanda…psht…um…Twix…you awake?" A voice whispered shakily from somewhere close by.

Immediately Amanda's eyes snapped open to find herself staring up at a pair of green eyes. At first she thought it might have been Ellis, but then it registered…she'd been called Twix. Coming immediately out of the fetal position and up to sitting on her side she noticed that it in fact was Riley, looking at bit scared. Amanda narrowed her eyes and turned over, lying on her side to look the other direction. What the hell was he doing, and since when did he think it was okay to wake her up in the middle of the night for some bullshit.

"Twi- Amanda…please, I just want to talk. I promise, no harassment, no flirting, no nothing," Riley pleaded.

Amanda considered but didn't move from her position, looking straight ahead and trying not to crack. Wow, she was surprised he remembered her actual name, not just Twix.

"Please…I just want to talk," Riley whispered softly, sounding…sad.

Riley has an emotion other than happiness or flirting? Riley can be…can be, sad? Amanda slowly turned over, coming back to her usual position of crossed legs, facing him with a couple feet between them.

"Alright, you have my attention. What do you want Riley?" Amanda asked, showing little emotion.

Searching his face he immediately broke eye contact, trying to form words but hesitating for some reason. What was so important that it required hesitation to say? Instantly her expression softened.

"Okay. Well, I. I just know I was an asshole today. And I'm sorry, really, honestly… I'm sorry," he stuttered, glancing up at her and then back down at the ground.

"You don't mean that. You're just going to do it again like you always do-" "No, no, really, I promise!" He exclaimed, looking exasperated.

"I- yeah, I'm a douche sometimes, believe me, I know. It doesn't seem like I try but I do, it's just…just a weird way of trying. Just a way of trying to do something right that makes it wrong in the end and I really don't mean to do it but I just do…I don't know how to explain it but… but, really I'm sorry. I deserved that punch off the bridge, I've had it coming for a while," Riley admitted.

It turned out that he was actually really challenged at forming coherent sentences when he was nervous. But what was there to be nervous over? Letting his jumbled up words wash over her, Amanda looked down, letting her hair fall over her face as she thought. He seemed sincere which was nice for once…and she was meaning to confront him about this eventually. Maybe they could put it behind them and start again. That would be really nice. What if she was being too shallow? What if he wasn't serious and just did it all over again?

"Amanda…?" Riley said, wondering if she was still listening.

Girls looked so confusing while they are silent…you couldn't tell if they were mad, thinking, or just plain ignoring you.

"Yeah…I suppose I have some apologizes to make as well. No, you didn't deserve to be punched off that bridge, I got a bit too out of control. Lately things are just really stressful and I took it out on you, so I'm sorry too. No hard feelings?" Amanda said, looking up at him.

He smiled, "Nope. No hard feelings."

They sat in silence for a couple of moments, not awkward, but sort of a peaceful silence.

"Though you've got to admit…that was pretty funny," Riley added, smirk back on his face.

Amanda cracked a half smile, looking back out over the land before briefly looking back over at Riley who was already staring at her, moonlight sort of illuminating his hair to make it even redder, if that was possible. Amanda quickly looked away before she could notice any more details about him. Not to mention what was going on in her stomach, felt like a few of those butterflies were desperately trying to escape their cage. Whoa, whoa, she mentally slapped herself. What was she doing? Butterflies, not wanting to make eye contact…this was _Riley _of all people. The most annoying, despicable, flirtatious person she'd ever met in her entire life. Now just like all of the other girls that were under his spell- Under his spell? So now she was under his spell? Since when did he have a spell? Does he even know how to spell spell-

"That's a good look for you…" Riley murmured, briefly meeting her eyes once again.

Nervously pushing her glasses up Amanda looked back at the ground again.

"Um…what," she stuttered.

He chuckled, "The smile, it looks good on you. Wear it more often."

Amanda couldn't help but smiling at this comment and could feel her cheeks turning pink, hoping he didn't notice.

"Well, anyway…better get some sleep for the big day tomorrow. Sweet dreams for Twix, Riley over and out!" He whispered, winking before getting up and diving back into his sleeping bag from whence he came.

Amanda glanced at him one last time before crawling back into her own sleeping bag, just now noticing the chill the night air had brought to her skin, causing goose bumps to appear on her arms. Turning over she ran over what had just happened at least 15 times in her mind.

Was he seriously trying to be nice? For once he was sincere? It came as a shocker to her. But that was dangerous. What she thought of him was dangerous. What she'd been thinking about him all along was very dangerous… Taking a deep breath she reran the scene over in her mind one last time before admitting it to herself. _I have a crush on…Riley Giaden._ Of all people. Riley Giaden. The chick magnet, stark white, crazy haired, charmer… A crush. But it was only a crush right? Those could be got ridden of easily…_maybe I just need to meet some more guys to broaden my horizons or something. No, no, that wouldn't work. _Through several series of arguments with herself later Amanda could feel herself drifting off to sleep, a small smile on her face as sleep finally claimed her.

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><p><strong>AN: Wow. It's really been a while XD I'm sorry guys, I'm so terrible with stay with things. Hope you enjoyed this new chapter. And do you have a new OTP for shipping? Oh I believe do ;D Review and let me know what you think! Hope you're all having a great day!**


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